Niji Meets Neko
by VitameatavegaminGirl
Summary: Nai is a half-niji mix. Yuki is a Post-Human/Cat mix. While finishing up a mission her master sent her on, Yuki runs into Nai (literally). What will be the result of their encounter? Fear? Anger? Love? Read on and find out! (Title photo is what my OC looks like) (Hiatus)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic! It's my first one _ever_ so please review and tell me how I'm doing! **

**By the way, this story is set after Gareki graduated from Kuronomei as a physician combatant. In my mind that means everyone is three years older than in the original story (ie: Gareki is 18; Yogi is 24; Hirato is 30 and so on). For those of you who haven't read the manga, do so, then come back to my story...seriously the manga is awesome!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Karneval or any of it's characters. My only possession is Yuki, my OC.**

 **Now, without further ado...I present to you, dear reader, Chapter 1: Don't Touch My Tail!**

* * *

* _huff*…*huff*…*huff*… Running, running away again. But from what? A person? No, I can beat a person. So what then? Monsters? Myself? What am I running from? Why? Oh…yeah…that's right…that_ Varuga _. Haha…I really am running from a monster then, huh? But why? I'm strong…stronger than most at least…so…why then?_

 _*CRASH*_

ROOOOAAAAAARRRRR! An enormous black beast, body writhing with darkness, burst through the underbrush behind her, 'shouting' at the top of its voice. It was ready, willing and very anxious to kill the young girl desperately trying to get away. It swung one of the long tendrils it used as arms and attempted to wrap itself around her body; it almost succeeded, but the girl managed to leap away from it at the last second. Her long tail flicked nervously at the close call.

 _Well…I guess_ that _answers my question. Note to self: Do_ not _mess with a Varuga master…they will set their puppets on you._

While the little game of cat and mouse between the girl and monstrous Varuga continued at a rapid pace, on the other side of the forest a small group of younger boys were currently stretching their legs, after riding in their ship, while on the way home from a recently completed mission, oblivious to the young girl's peril.

"Oi! Nai! Don't go too far, got it?!" One of the older-looking boys shouted irritably at the young albino, Nai.

"Hai, Gareki!" he replied cheerily in the face of the elder's irrational annoyance.

"Mou, Gareki-kun!" the other blonde-haired boy whined, "There's no need to sound so grumpy to Nai-chan!"

"Hah?! What'd you just say?" the dark haired boy's eyes flashed dangerously at the reckless comment made by his senior companion.

The blonde blinked a few times, actually considering his next words so as not to be hit by Gareki. He took a breath and stated in a much gentler tone, "I said, or rather meant, Nai-chan is a good boy and he wouldn't do something reckless without warning. Ne, Nai-chan?"

"Mm!" Nai's ruby red eyes shone with honesty as he continued to walk around, staying within a good few meters of the other two boys.

He stopped at one point, quite abruptly, and by doing so he alerted his friends that something was amiss. Nai cocked his head to one side, his eyes defocusing for a moment as he concentrated on listening to the rather strange noise he had heard. Suddenly his eyes widened and he took off into the surrounding forest, an odd determination coloring his beautiful eyes.

"Nai!" both Gareki and the blonde shouted simultaneously at the retreating figure. They glanced worriedly at each other before taking off in pursuit.

Ω

The running girl's cat like ears twitched when they picked up sounds of another person running toward her and the Varuga chasing her. She frowned.

 _You have got to be kidding me!? Now I've got to deal with a_ Post-Human _? No…wait…the steps are way too loud for a Post-Human…or at least not one that deserves immediate attention. Maybe it'll just start yammering about how wonderful he (or she) is and how they are going to mutilate me or whatev-_

BAM "OOF!"

CRASH "NYAOUCH!"

The girl was interrupted mid-thought as a strange white haired, red eyed, skinny little human male knocked her right off her feet and into the bushes next to a tree. The Varuga that had been trying to catch her was caught by surprise and ended up slamming into a large tree it supposed the girl would avoid instead of her disappearing into the underbrush.

"Nai!?" Gareki shouted in concern at the disappearance of his young friend. At about that time, he noticed the gigantic Varuga, struggling to get up after its unexpected tumble into the tree.

"Gareki-kun! Is Nai-chan okay?" the blonde screeched in his ear. Gareki winced and sighed loudly while clutching his now aching head.

"I don't know, you idiot," Gareki sighed again and narrowed his eyes trying to identify where the missing child had gone. After a few seconds of looking he noticed a pale leg sticking out of the bushes next to a rather large tree. He sighed for a third time before darting over to the bushes to rescue his little friend. He wasn't fast enough for the girl Nai had tackled, though. Up till the moment Gareki attempted to help Nai, she had been simply lying underneath the albino while attempting to figure out what had happened. In her mind she recreated the incident and replayed it at a much slower pace.

 _Okay…so I was running away from the Varuga when this little colorless kid, with bright red eyes and hair shaped like horns, or ears, with bits of purple coloring just the ends, rammed right into me at what seemed to be his top speed. He 'oofed' and when we landed in the bushes he landed on my poor tail; I 'nyaouched' and he looked at me in surprise at my strange yelp. As I stared at him in confusion trying to decipher his actions, he blinked back at me, his eyebrows furrowed in concern and he asked, quite gently I might add, "Are you okay? I heard you…er…yelp when we landed and I was wondering if you were alright." My eyes widened in shock (No one had ever, in her entire life, asked if_ she _was okay after she made a sound of pain). When I didn't respond, he looked even more worried and began to repeat his previously asked question; instead of waiting through it again I cut him off in the middle with a quick, "Yes. I'm…fine. Just fine. You simply…um…surprised…me. Sorry if I startled you." The boy on top of me immediately grinned like I had offered him a million dollars. That was when I realized the position we were in, his body was lying right on top of mine and his hands were on either side of my head. I blushed bright red, pushed one hand underneath my body, put the other on his back and lifted both of us up, making sure he didn't fall back on the ground. When I got far enough up I used my legs and tail to quickly boost us the rest of the way up until we were standing again._

Gareki stopped when he saw Nai, and another person he couldn't fully identify, appear to 'jump' out of the undergrowth onto their feet and into the now standing Varuga's line of fire. Both he and the blonde behind him shouted a warning at the two, but it was useless. The person with an arm around Nai gripped him tighter and leapt high in the air and avoided the flailing Varuga tendrils. They landed a few feet away from the blonde, who looked stunned by now at the impressive display of agility by the unknown person.

Gareki was the first one out of the three boys to regain his senses, so he shouted to the blonde, "Yogi! Get Nai and whoever's with him away from here. I'll handle things here, got it?!"

The blonde, now known as Yogi, nodded tersely, scooped the two up in his arms and flew off back to their abandoned transportation vessel.

With the possible collateral damage gone, Gareki was able to focus on the enemy in front of him. He focused for a moment and as he felt the familiar handles of his beloved weapons, a pair of silver and black .38 caliber S&W handguns, he raised his arms and uttered the words, "Das Verboten*," he paused while waiting for it to charge a bit and for him to take aim at the snarling Varuga in front of him.

He took a short breath, exhaled, smirked at the beast and hissed out the word, "Feuer**!" Then, as he watched the horrifying creature crumble and turn to dust, the young man sneered and spat out, "Die, worthless scum…die and never come back."

After killing the beast Gareki exhaled slowly and began to fly back to his waiting companions and the still unknown extra person who helped Nai escape. He flew a lot easier now that he'd had some practice at it and he still enjoyed it just as much as he did when he first learned how. Gareki smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying the wonderful feel of the wind in his hair. His peace was disturbed, however, when he heard a feminine sounding screech coming from his intended destination. He groaned out loud and thought, _What has Yogi done this time?_

When he returned, he met with a very odd scene. The strange person, a girl judging by the figure, who had been with Nai, was throttling Yogi with a red face and tears in her eyes. They shone with pure fury and more than a hint of terror and pain. Nai was looking astounded and Yogi was turning a lovely shade of purple due to lack of breath.

Gareki blinked a few times, finally noticing that the girl had cat like ears and a long tail with a cute little poof of fluff on the end making it look a bit like a cat toy or a very strange flower. He smiled at his inner image of the girl chasing her own tail around thinking it was a toy, he snapped out of his daze only once Nai started squeaking at him to help Yogi. The older blonde looked like he was about to pass out, so Gareki quickly strode over and gently touched the girl on the shoulder. When she whipped her head around he held his hands in the universal _I mean no harm_ sign and slowly gestured toward his, now unconscious, friend.

"Whatever that idiot did to make you so mad, I promise he meant no harm. He can be a dense idiot sometimes but, unless provoked, he wouldn't hurt a fly. So, knowing that, can you let him go, he looks like he's gonna die if you don't." As the dark haired boy smiled gently at her, she felt her anger fade a bit and she reluctantly released her victim allowing Gareki to catch him before he hit the ground.

Her tail flicked indignantly as she muttered, "He pulled my tail thinking it was simply a fake…it hurt so I returned the favor," the cat-girl looked down and blushed slightly at her own overreaction, "I'm sorry."

"Urrg…" the blonde Yogi woke up just in time to hear the apology and, after a few seconds of regaining his breath he responded with a sweet sounding, "It's okay! I'm sorry too. I didn't know it was real and thought the tuft on the end was cute so I just kind of acted on instinct. I act like a cat a lot in real life so I just did what I thought was normal for a cat. Hehe…I'm really, really sorry for hurting you. If I had known it would hurt I would never have done what I did. I am so sorry."

The girl blinked. Once again she was stunned at the response she got. She had never had someone apologize to her. Especially not when she had also been in the wrong, usually when that happened she was either beaten or starved, depending on who she angered and why. The girl wasn't sure as to how she was supposed to respond. Did she need to say it was okay? Or maybe tell him it was nothing. She had no idea whatsoever. So when her mind was finished whirling she decided upon something similar to his response.

"It's okay…I was more startled and angry than actually hurt. In my mind pulling on someone's tail, or any other body part for that matter, is considered very rude and quite offensive. But seeing as how you didn't know, it's alright. I forgive you entirely." Of course the girl had never actually thought about tail pulling being rude but she figured it sounded like a reasonable excuse instead of telling him that the tail pull really hurt which subsequently reminded her of some equally painful memories she had been trying to forget. She didn't let on to her mental and physical pain though for the sake of his conscience and ego. It seemed to work too; he instantly grinned and pulled her into a big hug squealing about how cute she was. The girl could already tell that this guy was going to be one heck of a handful.

 **Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and are willing to read the next one (still a work in progress). Reviews are accepted and appreciated!**

 *** The Forbidden (I know it doesn't make much sense, but I like the way it sounds...so work with me.)**

 ****Fire (as in 'shoot' not 'flames')**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! VitametavegaminGirl here (I have got to shorten my name a bit...how does VitaGirl sound?). I hope anyone who read the first chapter enjoyed it and I hope they enjoy this one too! Btw: Thank you so much, Salt_the_Catgirl, for your review and mention in your 9th** ** _ShiKarneval: Fighting in the Center Ring_** **chapter. I really appreciate the review and I'm glad my review made you feel a bit better! Also, thank you to any and all of the people who have read my first chapter and are waiting for more!**

 **Now, once again, without further ado...I present Chapter 2: I'm No Kitten!**

Once both Ms. Cat-girl and Yogi had calmed down enough to think straight, Gareki began questioning the unusual child on various topics: name, age, family, the reason for the Varuga chasing her, and so on. At first the girl was a little overwhelmed but she was used to giving out her personal information to strangers, so she answered the way she would in an interview her Master had set up to get some work for her.

"My name is Yuki. I'm 14 years old. I have no last name or family. I'm skilled a-," she stopped abruptly forgetting that this wasn't a job interview and the dark haired boy in front of her hadn't asked about her skill set but rather why the Varuga had been chasing her, "That… _thing_ …was chasing me because I angered its puppeteer." Again she paused, waiting for another question from Gareki.

Gareki, however, wasn't even considering asking another question just yet. He was still puzzled about why the girl, or rather Yuki, had sounded so calm talking about herself and why she had started, but never finished, describing the abilities she possessed. He frowned at her in confusion. Yuki, understanding that he was confused but unwilling to explain just yet, simply stared back, forcing her face into an expression of innocent naiveté. Her purposeful disinclination to assist Gareki by explaining her words sent him into an unrivaled fury that not even Yogi, with his total disregard for the younger male's personal space, could hold a candle to. The dark haired boy nearly burst a gasket when she blinked innocently at him.

Noticing that Gareki was very angry, sweet little Nai tried his best to change the subject by asking if Yuki would like to come back to the Second Ship with the two Circus fighters and himself.

"Are you sure you want me to come?" Yuki asked tilting her head and flicking her tail at the albino child.

Nai looked slightly taken aback at her unexpected response. He replied, hesitantly, with, "Umm…y-yes?" Poor Nai-chan. He was beyond confused and had been anticipating an excited yes or a scared no (at which he would have insisted that she come; the young boy was really starting to take a liking to the cat-girl). Yuki's inner sadistic side was screaming at her to start laughing maniacally at his quavering 'answer' to her 'question,' just to scare him off a little. She held back however, choosing to raise an eyebrow and give an almost unnoticeable smirk. Her tail once again flicked, this time in amusement, while she giggled a cavity inducing, "I would be happy to come if you want me to…um…" she glanced at him inquisitively, eyes asking for a name.

"I'm Nai!" the boy replied cheerily. Happy to have gotten a more natural answer, he proceeded to tell her his companions' names as well, "The one you were strangling is Yogi, and Gareki is the one who stopped you." Nai smiled brilliantly, ignoring the slightly uneasy feeling he felt coming from the cat-girl (it was similar to the feeling he felt when Silver Yogi made an appearance).

While Nai was introducing his friends to Yuki, she was silently assessing the possibility of her own escape from these…for lack of a better word, strange, people who seemed determined to find out more about her. She sighed internally. _Why did Master have to give_ me _the job of ticking off that stupid Karoku? Now I can't even go home…well at least not until Master figures out how to get me out of this mess. Man…I guess that rules out my escape even if I do get a chance. Well, maybe if I go with them I'll end up running into Master and he can tell me what to do. *sigh* I wanna go home…_

"Um…Nai…-san, -kun?" Yuki blinked at Nai wondering which honorific to use.

"Just Nai, actually…call me Nai-chan, like Yogi!" the niji-boy urged.

"O-okay…er…Nai…-chan," she had only ever called her two brothers tha-…actually…never mind…let's just say Yuki wasn't used to calling strangers in such an endearing way (A/N: MUAHAHAHA). She composed herself for a bit before continuing, "Are you sure it's okay if I come with you? I'm not exactly someone you have known your entire life. Do you really trust me enough to take me back to your home?" This particular comment was answered by Gareki, who by now had calmed down enough to look at Yuki without feeling like exploding in a flurry of curses.

"If you really were a danger, and/or a threat, you shouldn't have saved Nai from being hit by the Varuga; plus if you were going to do something untrustworthy you would have kept your mouth shut about betraying us in the first place. Saying something like that will make us believe you are innocent and can be trusted. Unless of course you were planning on using some kind of reverse psychology by saying that, making us believe you, then betraying us when we least expect it; or you could be doing this whole thing in complete innocence, which would mean I'd simply be confusing you. But the same scenario could apply to that as well. You could act confused at my little explanation but still betray us in the end." With that he stopped. While waiting for her reply, he smirked, he knew he had won this war and was simply waiting for conformation.

Yuki frowned, then she blinked. She tried to come up with a snappy retort, but her mind was still whirling and couldn't formulate a proper response to his too quick explanation. Eventually, she flicked her tail and twitched her ears furiously. Her cat-like eyes narrowed and she began growling under her breath at the smirking boy. Gareki's confident look faltered for a split second before reverting back. _D-did she j-just_ growl _at me?!_ Yogi raised an eyebrow at Yuki's…interesting behavior. He wondered if she was pretending to be frustrated simply to watch Gareki squirm. The cat-girl he was observing felt his stare and flicked her gaze over to him; she slightly tilted her head, gave a small, barely visible smile, and slowly blinked her eyes at him. At Yogi's responding look of surprise she looked back at Gareki while sighing softly. Yuki was beginning to wish she had never met these people; Gareki was slightly suspicious of her, Yogi was way too happy-go-lucky for her taste, and Nai…well she was okay with Nai, mostly she thought he was a cutie with a sweet personality (she wouldn't have minded meeting him under more normal circumstances, actually). The others, though, she could have lived a wonderful life without ever having met.

When a short silence had passed without anyone speaking, Yogi, unable to stand the tension in the air, shouted, "Well either way you should still come with us, if only to see if you got hurt by the Varuga that was chasing you." He clasped his hands behind his back and leaned forward like a child begging a parent to go to a candy store; he opened his beautiful purple eyes as large as he could while giving the cat-girl his most stunning smile (one even Akari-sensei would melt over). Yuki just blinked at the handsome young blonde. Seeing that his plan was beginning to fail, Yogi turned up the charm by adding the perfect amount of tears to make his look absolutely irresistible (something not even the coldest, criminal killer could stand up to). At this he got his desired effect. She blushed slightly, quickly looked away, and nodded shortly at the blonde's unspoken questioning. Internally, Yogi leapt for joy and giggled like a child; externally, he gave a small laugh, swooped her up, bridal style, and, ignoring her shrieking and struggling, jumped nimbly back on to the aircraft, Gareki and Nai following closely behind.

Ω

A few hours after the events in the forest, the group reached a very large air ship that looked like a cross between a bat and a beetle; it had big bat wings, a long spear like rudder of sorts, an underbelly akin to the inner workings of a glowing computer, and a shape that looked like a carapace. Yuki thought it was literally the strangest thing she had _ever_ seen (and seeing as how she had seen some seriously crazy stuff in her lifetime, her thoughts held more weight than most). After the smaller aircraft had landed on the bigger one, the group disembarked, Gareki picked up Nai while Yogi scooped up Yuki, much to her chagrin, and the two Children of the Second Ship flew through a 'doorway' on the bottom of the oval like air ship. When Yogi and Gareki landed, now in the strange ship, they were met with a large group of small sheep-like creatures, carrying long spears, and repeating over and over, "Welcome home. Welcome home."

"I'm back," all three boys said at the same time, Gareki's voice being the most noticeable due to lack of enthusiasm in his tone. Yuki raised an eyebrow at the…interesting phrase; she wasn't too sure about the reason, but to be honest she wasn't thinking about their words as much as she was attempting to figure out how to escape Yogi's tight grip on her.

When she was just about to put her plan into action (it involved lots of struggling, kicking, smacking, punching, and tail swatting), Yogi let her down, much to her relief, and whispered, "You have to say it too. They'll attack anyone who doesn't." The cat-girl blinked and looked quickly at him. He looked at her in all seriousness and nodded, urging her on.

She hesitated, before muttering (in a tone similar to Gareki's first utterance of the words), "I-I'm home." Saying that in front of someone other than her family (A/N: Can anyone guess who they are? One hint: they are characters from the original series and their race is Post-Human) made her feel uncomfortable, but she tried not to show it.

The sheep whirred for a bit before replying with a robotic, "Voice recognition registration is completed."

Yuki jumped a little when they turned around quickly and dashed off to do whatever other duties they were given. She sighed. _I really need to get out of here. My nerves are about to make me snap!_ As soon as she finished thinking this, she felt an aura oozing with a thick blood lust, focused entirely on her, appear when a tall, handsome, dark haired man entered her line of sight. She froze instantaneously. _This man will kill me if I make a wrong move,_ She thought, in fear. Nai, who had moved so that he could stand as close to her as possible without inciting a riot, began to feel her anxiety and, in an attempt to comfort her, gently took her hand in his; she started a bit and glanced at him in curiosity. He gave her a small, yet sweet, smile, while rubbing his thumb gently on the back of her hand in a reassuring way. Yuki relaxed; feeling his hand entwined with hers made her feel safe, not to mention much calmer than how she usually felt. Nai noticed the change in her demeanor and happily snuggled closer to her.

The dark haired man Yuki had freaked out over was, of course, the wonderful Captain of the Second Ship, Hirato. Yogi was the first to talk to him, saying, "Hello, Hirato-san. We're back!" in a happy tone of voice (it seemed to Yuki that 'happy' was the only tone of voice the older blonde possessed).

Hirato smiled quietly, never taking his eyes off Yuki, "Welcome back everyone. Yogi I expect a full report later. For the time being, however, I want to know what _that_ is," indicating to Yuki, "There was nothing about a…kitten in the description of your mission."

At the 'kitten' comment Yuki exploded, "I AM NOT A KITTEN!"

 **Thank you for reading Chapter 2. I hope you liked it! I'll try to release the next chapter soon.**

 **Later!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! I finally finished chapter three. Hope ya'll like it! : )**

 **BTW: I do NOT own Karneval, its characters, or the setting. (Just my sweet, crazy, Yuki-chan!)**

 **I now present Chapter 3: Post-Human/Cat-Brat**

After everyone's ears stopped ringing from Yuki's…expressive use of her voice, Hirato calmly stated, "If you aren't a kitten then how would you explain the ears and tail you possess?" He tilted his head a fraction of an inch, bemusement written on his face.

The cat-girl hissed threateningly, forgetting entirely about the fear she felt when she first saw him and was about to fly into a flurry of biting, scratching, and yowling, when Nai squeezed her hand while wrapping his other arm around hers to keep Yuki from doing something she would regret.

Gareki noticed Nai's actions and gave a little smirk. _He likes her, doesn't he? Karoku is NOT going to be happy when he finds out…I just hope I'm there to see it!_ The dark haired boy chuckled at his own thoughts. Yogi noticed _his_ reaction and raised a curious eyebrow at him. Gareki caught his friend's gaze before motioning at the two half-breeds virtually attached at the shoulder. The blonde young man blinked at the sight; he gave a little smile, followed by a quiet giggle.

Yuki, on the other hand, was far from amused. In fact, she was downright mad at the man, older man, she noted with contempt, and wanted more than anything to hit him, but Nai was gripped on to her so she held back her violent urge. Instead she settled for spitting out curses (ones unprintable for even the internet, mind you) toward him.

At her second outburst, the man chuckled and answered her…statements, by saying, "My, my, Gareki-kun what have you been teaching this child?"

"She didn't learn those words from me!" Gareki was practically dying inside with laughter, but he figured that voicing his amusement would land him in hot water with the cat-girl. He guessed correctly. Yogi, however, didn't think quite far enough and laughed. After a satisfying sounding THWACK, he learned then to never do so again.

When Yuki was finished dealing with Yogi, she turned back to her tormentor (feeling much calmer now that she had gotten a bit of the fury off her chest), and icily quipped, "My name is Yuki and I am _not_ a kitten."

"Then what, exactly, are you?" Hirato questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"…I," Yuki paused, thinking, "I'm a Post-Human," She stated with ease.

This revelation shocked everyone besides Nai, who had already guessed as much.

"A-a-a-a P-p-p-post-H-h-human!" Yogi squeaked, terrified. Gareki instantly went on the defensive, while Hirato simply stood there, stunned. He had not been expecting that answer.

Seeing the effect her words had on the blonde and two dark haired men, both young and old, she cackled internally. _Hahaha! They're really scared now, huh? Wonder if that'll help me get out of he-_ Once again, she was cut off in the middle of a thought, as Hirato, after finally snapping out of his trance, appeared directly in front of her. Luckily, she had seen him coming and at a speed _Jiki_ would have had a hard time trying to see (with his glasses off), Yuki grabbed Nai with her free arm, virtually flung him into an astonished Gareki, before leaping high over Hirato, landing perfectly on her feet behind him, her tail flicking in excitement at the coming confrontation between her and our magnificent Captain. Hirato spun around, giving her a withering glare. She simply giggled crazily at this expression of frustration.

Yuki was feeling thrilled that she was finally going to get to fight someone who could hold their own against her. She hated worthless fights; this one, though, was bound to be amazing. She couldn't wait! Anxiously, she extended her claws from both her hands and bare feet. Hirato, understanding her intentions, summoned his cane and got ready to beat some respect into the kitten-brat. Yuki's eyes glittered fiercely and her pupils narrowed into slits, giving even more proof of her feline race. When her eyes changed, her demeanor did the same; before, she gave off a threatening aura, now…there was nothing. It was like she didn't exist, Nai wouldn't have been able to tell if she was alive save for the continual beating of her heart. Suddenly, the creature, which usually called herself Yuki, twitched and appeared, as Hirato did earlier, directly in front of him; in the Captain's case, however, he was unlucky enough to have reflexes much slower than hers, making it easy for her to punch him square in the jaw, knocking him back far enough to have him fall out of the portal and into the open sky. His attacker jumped after him, disappearing in the same way. Yogi, Gareki, and Nai had all been frozen to their spots until Yuki disappeared; her vanishing jolted them back into action. Nai ran to get Tsukumo and Iva, who both happened to be back, while Gareki and Yogi dashed through the portal to assist their captain if necessary.

When they got to the sparing couple, they were shocked beyond belief. Hirato had already lost.

He was falling from the sky, unconscious, with a grinning Yuki perched on top of him. Neither of the young men knew what to do. As the Captain of the Second Ship plummeted closer to the ground, they sprang into action, swooping down to catch him before he abruptly decelerated. By the time they caught up to the two falling people, Iva and Tsukumo had arrived, incredibly worried. When they too saw the state their captain was in, their reaction was that of anger mixed with a small bit of fear. They immediately rushed to Gareki and Yogi's aid and gently took hold of Hirato where the other two were not. Yuki, still on top of the great Captain, had been observing the two males carrying their cargo with such care, but when the other two came she narrowed her eyes, thinking they were trying to take away her precious prey. This incited a growl of warning at the two women; Iva decided that three people would be enough to take care of Hirato and began to attack the cat-girl. This was a mistake of course, but, unfortunately, Iva didn't know this yet. She would soon though; Yuki was perfectly capable of flight herself, so she quickly knocked Iva out as well, grabbed her around the waist, and, after doing the same to Hirato, flew quickly back to the ship (the other three were hanging off Hirato desperately trying to avoid being left behind).

When Yuki landed back in the ship, she dumped everyone she had been carrying onto the floor. After giving a frustrated huff, she muttered "I'm home" to the sheep and went to sit down next to the wall, wanting to think without too many disturbances. _Why didn't I kill him, or rather all of them, when I had the chance? I probably couldn't have taken all of them at once but one or even two at a time would have been simple…so why?! I hate it when I do that!_ She wrapped her arms around her legs and squeezed, attempting to block out the sounds of Gareki desperately trying to use his medical experience to wake up his mentors and friends. _I want to go home…I want to go home…I want to go home…I want to go home…I want to go home._ Tears began leaking out of her tightly shut eyes as she longed to return to the people dear to her. _Haru-chan, Ka-chan, Uro-sama…I miss you guys…_ a tear slid down her cheek… _I miss you so much._ Right after thinking this, she felt a soft hand brush the stray tear away, and looking up she was surprised to see Nai kneeling in front of her, a gentle smile on his face.

"Don't cry, Yuki. It's alright…I'm here, I'll always be right here." He whispered softly to her, knowing how much she was hurting inside. When he said those words to her, she couldn't help it, she simply broke down; weeping, sobbing, crying, screaming, she held nothing back. She wouldn't dare hold back. She couldn't do that. Not anymore, at least.

Nai smiled at Yuki. He understood that she wasn't comfortable…that she didn't really want to fight…that she wanted to go home…that she missed her family…that she was at her limit. He understood. It was because he understood her that he was able to talk to her so gently. He wrapped his arms around her shaking form and held her tight.

Ω

"OOOOWWWW! KIHARU! THAT HURT, YOU IDIOT!" A red haired young man wearing orange goggles shouted at Kiharu, a blue-haired man of the same age.

"Sorry, Kagiri, I didn't mean to hurt you. Though…hehe…the look on your face when I got you was priceless! KYAHAHAHAH! It was sooooo fun-"

WHACK

He was cut off mid-sentence when his master, the ever astonishing Uro, kicked him across the courtyard of his estate. Muttering curses under his breath (mostly they contained the words 'noisy,' 'brats,' 'stupid,' 'loud,' and the sentence 'Yuki really needs to come back soon'), he stalked back into the house, frustrated that he had been disturbed from his work. He sighed softly. _I don't know what I'm going to do with those two idiots if Yuki doesn't get back soon. To be honest, I'll probably end up killing them, won't I? Haaah…where is she anyway? The job I gave her shouldn't have taken more than a few hours with her skill set. Hmm…I wonder if she's okay. Ah…well she can handle herself, that much I know for sure._ While Uro headed back inside, Kagiri was helping Kiharu out of the tree he had been kicked into.

"Hey, Haru?" Kagiri inquired.

"Sup?"

"You think Yuki misses us as much as we miss her?"

"Course! How could she not? We're her family, ain't that right?"

"Well, yeah…but," Kagiri hesitated, not wanting to voice his concerns, lest they come true.

"But?" Kiharu prodded his friend on anyway.

"Well, what if she finds someone she loves more than us and…doesn't…come…back." His voice got quieter and quieter as he spoke. He did _not_ want such a thing to happen.

Kiharu was silent for a bit, while he thought over Kagiri's words. Finally, he responded with a tight, "I'll drag her back myself…right after I kill the #&%* who took her away from us." His eyes showed he was entirely honest. This made Kagiri feel a lot better. Even if they did lose her for a bit Kiharu would bring her back and everything would go back to normal! Kagiri let out a sigh of relief. _Good. I don't want Yuki to rely on anyone besides us. If she does…she'll leave and it'll be kind of hard to bring her back after she has gotten a taste of somebody else's help. No, that won't do at all. I can't wait till she comes back…haaah._

"Kagiri?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't think it'll come to me having to kill someone right?"

"…Don't worry, Haru. Yuki will always come back to us. I was simply worried about the possibility, and now that you've come up with an adequate response to my fear, I can reassure you that Yuki will come back…even if it takes a little force to do so, she _will_ come back, I guarantee it." Kagiri looked up at his tall friend and smiled warmly. "Everything will be alright, I promise." Kiharu beamed in reply and bounded away, happy once again.

Ω

After Gareki made sure Hirato and Iva weren't in any grave danger, he reared around, ready to give the cat-brat a severe scolding. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. Yuki was desperately clinging to Nai, who was patting her back gently and whispering softly to her. Gareki didn't know what to do. _What is he doing? That…Yuki…she…_ he growled at himself, frustrated with his inability to identify her.

"Oi! Nai! Get away from her! She's dangerous," he glared harshly at her when she poked her head out from the protection of Nai's embrace, causing her to wince and quickly withdraw.

"No she's not," Nai said sweetly, "She is just scared and lonely. That's all." The half-niji rubbed his hand along her back and cooed softly at her.

"I can be," Yuki quavered, "I can be incredibly scary sometimes." Gareki very nearly bust a gasket when she said this. _Why is she making her voice sound so scared?! She just admitted that she was scary! Why isn't Nai letting go of her and running to me for safety the way he usually does? Why can't he see how evil she really is?! She almost_ killed _Hirato and Iva!_

"Nai…come here…NOW!" Gareki ordered, coldly.

Nai, luckily, heard the fury in Gareki's words and turned his head to look at him. The dark-haired boy was frowning angrily and would have simply ripped Yuki away from Nai, if Yogi hadn't been keeping a gently restraining hand on his arm. Nai stared for a while at his two friends, before looking back at the trembling cat-girl he was comforting. Yuki had been listening closely and could hear the warning notes in Gareki's voice. In response she forced her body to be still while she slowly stood up. She steadied herself, took a deep breath, pulled out a small knife, and jammed it into her own arm.

 **NYAHAHAHAHA! (Sorry, I'm listening to** ** _Ah, it's a Wonderful Cat Life!_** **by** **** **Vocaloid and I couldn't help it, ;3 ) My first real cliff-hanger I'll try to update again soon. Hope you liked it. Later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**VitameatavegaminGirl back with Chapter 4 (FINALLY!). Sorry about the long(ish) wait. I was gone two weeks ago and felt stunningly lazy this previous week. *sigh* Anyway, I'm back now and will be able to update every weekend...I hope. Btw: Nai is VERY OOC in this chapter (Hirato is too). Just a warning to Nai fangirls who may want to stab me after this. Also, if there is anyone who has an idea as to where I should go with this please say so because I have no clue as to what I should do with this story. I'm** ** _literally_** **making it up as I go.**

 **To Salt-the-Catgirl: Thank you soo much for your reviews. I really, really,** ** _really_** **appreciate them! :) Glad you guessed the brothers! Have a internet cookie! ;3**

 **Now I present to you Chapter 4: Black Blood**

 **I do not own Karneval, by the way.**

Black blood flowed freely from the large gash in Yuki's arm. Everyone in the surrounding area was frozen to the spot. Only when Yuki ripped the blade from her arm, wiped it off on her black skinny-jeans (choosing to keep her tight black tank top clean), and tucked the knife back into an invisible pocket, did the trio of boys jolt into action. Nai began screeching (loud enough to wake the previously unconscious Hirato and Iva), Gareki bolted toward her in genuine concern, and Yogi fainted on the spot. Hirato was unfortunate enough to be the cushion of Yogi's fall and, consequently, passed out along with the blonde. Iva groggily sat up, before being assaulted by a frantic Tsukumo.

Yuki looked softly at Nai, "It's okay…I'm alright. I did it on purpose." This quieted the boy down quickly and he settled on simply furrowing his eyebrows at her in fear for her life. She giggled gently, "I wanted to put myself on a level closer to that of the two I knocked out." This was the only explanation she gave and she wasn't going to say anything more for the time being. When Gareki got a hold of her he immediately put his medical skills to work. He cleaned the wound quickly, relying on his trusty doctor's bag for supplies, and bound her arm before she could bleed out (he would _not_ , under _any_ circumstances, allow death in his home). After doing so, he leaned the cat-girl or, as he thought of her, cat-brat, against the wall behind her, told her to breathe slowly and relax her body. She did as he said without any hesitation (knowing full well that he was restraining himself from hurting her more).

Yuki took a slow breath before sliding down the wall into a sitting position. She had, before she stabbed herself, blocked out the pain receptors in her brain; doing so guaranteed painless torture. Her master, Uro, had taught her how when she was little. Yuki let out a long sigh. Uro-sama would not be happy with her decision to not run during all of the _many_ chances she was given. _Haaaah…He's gonna kill me! I wonder what I should do now. I wonder what Uro-sama would tell me to do in a situation like this?_

 _First of all he'd probably smack me for getting myself in this mess in the first place._

 _Then he would say, in his frustrated voice, 'Act like you need their help. Pretend to be their friend, then lead them to me and I'll take care of them…they may be more useful than you think.'_

 _But I don't want to let Nai, or any of his friends, get hurt…NNNYYAAAA! What should I doooo?!_

"Oi! Cat-brat, you still here?" Gareki's rough speech cut into her thoughts and brought her back to reality.

"I am…" Yuki, still mulling over her options, sounded far away, "Do you need me to do something?"

"Other than get the *&^% off my ship, not much." Hirato had, for a second time, regained consciousness, this time bristling with fury at the cat-girl.

"Hirato-san! Are you okay?" Gareki, oblivious to Hirato's anger, rushed over to attend to him. Hirato simply brushed the dark-haired boy away with a low growl.

"I will repeat myself only once…get off my ship before I personally throw you out by the ears," the normally controlled tone of voice Hirato used was shattered beyond repair. He had never, in all his years, been so furious at someone so much younger than himself.

Yuki looked at him. She smirked and laughed. _I've never seen someone so dense! He really thinks he can threaten me…_ me _of all people. Hahaha!_ Her reaction simply served to tick Hirato off even more. (You could actually see his face turning red and a vein on his head throbbing in rage.)

In response he, literally, roared at her, "GET OFF MY SHIP THIS INSTANT!"

"I can't," she said softly.

"Why not?!"

"Not only do I have nowhere to go, but I also think I should…repay you for having to deal with me in the first place. I also feel bad about injuring you and your friend with the green hair. I promise, on my life, that I will do anything I can to make up for my insolence." The cat-girl was very used to giving lovely sounding apologies, especially when she was in the wrong. Hirato blinked at her. He had been expecting a sarcastic comment, not a request to make up for her actions. _What do I do now? I can't throw her out without becoming the 'bad guy.' Hmmmm. I guess dealing keeping her here for the time being is better. I still hate her though._ He huffed to himself before looking back to the cat-brat. This is when he noticed the position she was in; leaning against the wall, a bandage wrapped around a large area of her left arm, with an incredibly nervous Nai kneeling next to her.

"Nai, what's wrong? Why do you look so concerned over an enemy? I understand the whole empathy thing, but isn't this going a little far? " Hirato was very confused. _Wasn't this brat supposed to be evil? She did call herself a Post-Human…right?_

"She isn't an enemy, plus she's injured!" Nai responded, a little too sharply for his character, "How could I not be worried? She hurt _herself_ because she wanted to put herself on even ground with you and Iva. Yet even so will you really make her leave?!" Nai was, abnormally, frustrated with the inconsiderate man, "She's just confused! What would you do if you had suddenly been thrust into an environment where everyone _assumed_ you were inherently evil and tried to kill you the minute you identified yourself? Would you simply roll over and play dead? Or would you fight back!?" The niji-boy was full on shouting now, "What else could she have done, Hirato-san?! You would have killed her if she hadn't protected herself! And if you have the unmitigated _gall_ to continue to think she is a threat after her show of pure, unfiltered, _bravery_ then you'll have to deal with me!"

Hirato, Gareki, Yogi (who had woken up when Hirato dumped him onto the floor), Tsukumo, Iva, Yuki, and Karoku (who had been reading in the library, waiting for Nai to come back, but came to see what the all the ruckus was about; he arrived just in time to hear Nai's unexpected outburst) all blinked in surprise at the albino boy. He was huffing slightly, from exertion, and had stood up to emphasize his point. Now that he was finished yelling he plopped back down next to Yuki and wrapped his arms around her possessively. Yuki looked at him in curiosity. He met her eyes and gave a firm nod, implying that he would follow through with his threat if the need arose. She smiled warmly at him and rested her head on his shoulder. Karoku, thinking that his precious Nai was being seduced by a strange girl, reacted to the gentle gesture rather violently.

"Nai! Come here!" He wasn't in a mood to accept rejection, so when Nai looked up at him, frowned and shook his head 'no,' Karoku narrowed his light blue eyes, before stomping over to his, suddenly rebellious, creation. He stopped directly in front of the two, arms crossed. He began tapping his foot; his body language was demanding a _proper_ response to the order he gave.

Yuki glanced at the frustrated man in front of her. She frowned a little. _Where have I seen him before? Oh yeah! He's the person Master told me to...um...anger. I wonder why no one is attacking him. He's waaaay worse than m- Hang on...I thought Karoku had a scar on his face, this guy has no marks on his face, or anywhere else that I can see. They must not be the same person...but, why do they have the same name? It doesn't make any sense?! Haaaah...for the time beingI'm just going to ignore the similarities between them, I'll worry about it later. For now I should probably help Nai._ She nudged him and motioned for him to stand up. Nai resisted at first but after she whispered something in his ear he gave a barely noticeable jolt and stood up swiftly, a small blush gracing his colorless features. Karoku raised an eyebrow at the half-niji, wondering what the girl had said to make him obey so quickly.

Nai stepped a bit closer to Karoku and stated, with a hint of worry, "I'm sorry, Karoku. I was worried about Yuki-chan. She said she'd…um…be fine, so…uh…d-do you forgive me for being…defiant?" Karoku was surprised at the question (as was Gareki, who couldn't think of a time when Nai had ever asked for forgiveness). He then smiled softly at his little friend and rubbed his head affectionately, "Of course I forgive you, Nai! I just don't want you to do that again, okay?"

"Well, I can't promise anything, but I will try!" Nai beamed at a, once again, stunned Karoku.

Yuki smiled to herself. She appreciated what Nai was doing for her, but she found it amusing when he said things defiantly or in rebellion. It wasn't a normal thing for him (even she could tell that) and she thought it was sweet of his to try for her sake. She sighed quietly and leaned back against the wall while listening to Karoku (someone she was still trying to figure out) and Gareki scold Nai for continuing to be naughty. The boy was frowning again and trying to explain his point of view. After a bit of arguing between Nai, Gareki, and Karoku, their conversation began to involve everyone, as the subject of 'what to do with Yuki' came up. Gareki wanted to finish taking care of the cat-brat's arm before dropping her off in the nearest town (Nai was against this). Karoku wanted to simply leave the little succubus in the forest (Nai was very against this). Hirato, Iva, and Tsukumo wanted to send the Post-Human/Kitten to the Research Tower and let Akari-sensei perform (painful) experiments on her (Nai was very, _very_ against this). Yogi wanted, unlike everyone else, to give her another chance (Nai gave him a bone crushing hug for this). He reasoned that if _Nai_ felt so strongly that she really was a good person at heart, it must be so, at least for the most part.

"WAAAH! Thank you, Yogi!" Nai was ecstatic over the fact that someone was willing to see Yuki in a non-threatening light.

"Hehe," Yogi gave a small giggle, "Of course, Nai. Though I'd appreciate it if either you or Yuki-chan would explain why she attacked Hirato…that might make me feel a bit better about trusting her."

"I attacked him because he looked like he would give me a good fight. That and he tried to hit me first." Yuki was still sitting against the wall, holding her injured arm to her chest. She was speaking in a slight monotone, like she was bored or tired (it was her way of dealing with pain that she wasn't able to block). Nai tilted his head when he noticed her unusual tone.

"Are you okay, Yuki?" he asked taking a few steps closer to her, "Your voice sounds a little different."

"Don't worry, Nai, I'm fine. Just tired." She smiled sweetly at him. Yogi frowned when she said this. The cat-girl in front of him didn't look weary in the slightest. Rather, she seemed to be concealing a different feeling, one the blonde couldn't exactly identify. He began to worry a bit when he noticed how black her bandage was starting to look.

"Gareki-kun, would you see how much blood Yuki-chan has lost. Her bandage is looking really blood soaked and she is beginning to lose some of her coloring." Gareki, seeing that Yogi was serious about his concerns, responded to his request by striding over to Yuki and, kneeling down next to her, began to give her a preliminary examination.

 _Yogi's right. She's not looking so good. It also seems that her wound isn't closing up the way most Post-Human injures do. I wonder what's wrong. Maybe self-inflicted wounds don-_

He was cut off mid-thought when Yuki suddenly closed her eyes and toppled over into Gareki's lap in a dead faint. He yelped in surprise, which caught the attention of the others, and slid his hands under her body (which, he noted with a tinge of sympathy, was incredibly thin, verging on bony), trying to keep her off the ground.

Nai shrieked and rushed over to Yuki. He hadn't thought she would lie to him like that. Especially since he would, or rather should, have been able to tell if she was being dishonest. The niji-boy mentally berated himself for not paying closer attention to her heartbeat.

"Gareki, is she going to be okay?" The dark-haired boy glanced up at him. For a moment Nai thought he saw a bolt of dread in his friend's eyes but Gareki hurriedly readjusted his mask of indifference and the emotion vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Instead of answering Nai, Gareki caught Yogi's attention and gestured in a way that said 'Distract him so I can fix this.' Yogi nodded before swiftly scooping Nai up (despite his thrashing) and flying him down the hall to the library, which he promptly locked, where he began a one-sided game of 'catch' with the boy (the game mostly consisted of him darting all over the room avoiding the flying projectiles Nai was hurling at him in fury).

While Yogi and Nai were…playing…Gareki was carrying Yuki to the ship's infirmary. Even though he didn't trust her too much, his compassionate side (something he'd cursed all his life) wouldn't let him simply do nothing while she suffered. When he got to his destination he gently laid her on the examination table. His patient gave a slight moan as her skin met with the cold metal. After unwrapping her arm he frowned at it in frustration. It was still bleeding and was starting to ooze a strange liquid he didn't even want to identify. Carefully, so as not to get any of her blood directly on his skin, he cleaned the wound, bound it tightly, and thought about what he should do next. He wasn't used to helping Post-Humans; actually he'd never even had a normal conversation with one, up till now of course. As he pondered his next move, Yuki shot into a sitting position, eyes wide with terror. He, again, gave a yelp (adding a startled jump for good measure) before stepping hesitantly closer to her.

"You okay?" he questioned nervously.

"Wh-where am I?" her eyes were darting around the room and her breathing sounded slightly labored.

"You're in the infirmary. Right after you told Nai you were fine you passed out. How do you feel?" he fired off his replies, and question, quickly, in an attempt to get to the bottom of things.

"I feel…like I just stabbed my own arm…then passed out," the cat-brat shook her head to clear it before slowly placing it in her hands, "NYAAA! Why didn't I run when I had the chance?! Uro-sama's gonna kill me."

Gareki blinked at the familiar name, "You know Uro?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," came the miserable sounding reply, "He owns me. I'm not like my brothers, he simply controls them. I was bought from some newbie slave-trader who actually threw up when he saw how we were handled."

"Slave?" the dark-haired boy stiffened at the horrid word, remembering the time when he was called that too.

"That's right. Slave…such an ugly word, huh? I've always hated it. I think I remember actually cursing at it when I got my first brand…" she was about to continue, but Gareki had other plans.

"BRAND!" he shouted, "You were branded?! How old? Where? Who did it?" Once again his questions were practically fired out of his mouth making it a little harder for Yuki to answer him.

"Umm…Yes, 7, none of your business, and..." she tilted her head in thought for a bit, "No idea."

"You seriously don't remember who?" Gareki raised an eyebrow at her, "If something as painful as that happened to me I'd remember exactly who did it!"

"I didn't say anything about not remembering him, I just said I didn't know who it was," she paused for a few seconds, "Actually, I could probably describe his features, and voice, perfectly…however, I couldn't tell you his name 'cuz I never heard it." She said this last part in a mater-of-fact way, as if she was talking to someone stupid. Gareki hated that.

"Cat-brat!" he hissed.

"Goggles!" was her retort. He growled at her and yanked a strand of her black hair.

"NYAOUCH!" she cried, "You'll pay for that, JERK!" she threw herself at him and they began rolling around on the floor locked in furious battle (it was more like wrestling, but Gareki would kill me if I called it something so… _weak_ ).

 **Well there you have it folks, Chapter 4. Hope you liked it! I'll try to have Nai act more like himself later...but I don't know if I'll be successful (Please don't kill me!).**

 **If you are wondering about the brand, think of a burn scar in the shape of the numbers 2521119 (kudos to whoever figures out what they mean, it should be relatively simple). Where it is will be revealed later. Oh and the title picture is what my character looks like. I found this great website ( game/?game_id=421) where you can make your own anime characters. It's awesome! Anyway, thank you for reading! VGirl out. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Good evening! I hope you have enjoyed this story up till now! I actually have an ending in mind for** ** _Niji Meets Neko,_** **so I will try to stick with the plot line. If I start getting off topic pleeeease tell me so I can fix it. To Salt_the_Catgirl: I changed her reaction to Karoku in Chapter 4, thanks for pointing that out! :) I fixed the age discrepancy, too. Yuki got her brand when she was seven not twelve. Also, Yuki was never on the same slave boat as Gareki, in fact she has never been on a boat before...I'll explain that a bit more later. ;P Thank you again for your reviews! :D**

 **I now present Chapter 5: Let's Make a Deal**

 _*Ring*_

 _*Ring*_

 _*Ring*_

 _*Cl-click*_

 _Mmnn?_

"Tsukitachi?" Hirato questioned.

 _Whasamatter?_

"Are you drunk again?" the captain asked with a long sigh.

 _Yu-hic-p. Why? You lonely?_ Tsukitachi loved teasing his old partner. Even when he was drunk it still pleased him.

"Of course not you idiot," Hirato pinched the bridge of his nose. While he did appreciate Tsukitachi's company he did not enjoy the man quite as much when he was drunk. He was absolutely incorrigible like that. "I merely wished to discuss something with you. However, I suppose I called at a bad ti-"

 _Aww! Don't hang up Hirato! I'as just kidden with ya! I might not be totally sober but I'll listen to ya complain!_

"Who said I wanted to complain?" Hirato huffed.

 _Weeeell…whenever ya call me in the middle of the night, especially on a weekend, you know that I_ always _drink on the weekends, ya don't really want me ta answer. Just listen ta ya. So-hic, ya must be callin' ta complain._

Hirato hated it when Tsukitachi actually gave him a reasonable answer. "Haaah…fine. Yes I called to complain. But only a little. I really do need some…as much as it pains me to say this…I need some advice." He closed his eyes, hearing the line go quiet. If Tsukitachi remembered this in the morning he would never live it down.

 _What's wrong, Hirato?_ Tsukitachi couldn't think of a time were Hirato, THE Hirato, had ever asked for advice. From anyone…okay…maaaybe his brother, but not often and not lately. This was an incredibly rare experience for Tsukitachi and there's no way he was going to pass it up.

"Hmph… _now_ you're going to be helpful?" Hirato was actually glad the other man would listen to him seriously, but he wasn't about to let on to _that_ , "Oh well, I suppose you are making an effort." He sighed once more. He was not interested in explaining the situation or admitting the fact that he had lost to a child! Even though he wasn't feeling very enthused, he gave a brief overview of the events of the previous few hours (and although he was tempted to leave out a few…ahem…embarrassing points he didn't for the sake of his friendship; he knew Tsukitachi would be astonishingly peeved if he found out on his own). After he was done, the other man was, again, quiet. At first Hirato suspected that he had fallen asleep, and was about to hang up, when there was a sound, something like a covered up snort of laughter, along with a few coughs for good measure. Hirato groaned inwardly. He had a terrible feeling that his friend would be sharing this little story with two people the Second Ship Captain didn't want finding out about (*cough*Akari and Woody *cough* *cough*). He suddenly felt stupid for not risking a few weeks of silence just to save his dignity.

 _Ahem…sorry about that Hirato. I…um…choked on some water. So, you want another opinion on what you should do with…uh…_

"She calls herself Yuki."

 _Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yuki. Hmm…personally, I'd've thrown her out the minute she let her guard down._

"Well, considering how she had, not even an hour before, kicked my backside in our fight, I'd say my chances of that were slim to none _._ " Hirato was beginning to wish he had called someone else.

 _Oh…ummm…in that case I guess doing nothing is the only thing you could ha-_

"I'm not asking you about what I should have done, I've already run every scenario through my head, I simply want to know your opinion on what I should do _now_!" Yeah…he really regretted deciding against calling someone else or consulting Iva.

 _Ah. He he…sorry! Uhh…I think you should listen to her side of the story. If she seems like someone who needs help, help her. If she is someone who needs to be killed, kill her. Simple as that. Also, see if you can make some kind of deal with her. She may have information, plus she might be a useful test subject for Akari-chan. He'd love it if you let him have his way with her._

"Hmm…I thought of that too. Unfortunately, Nai is dead set against anything happening to the brat," he rolled his eyes, "Apparently, he believes she isn't a threat and should be treated with consideration instead of violence."

 _Hahaha! That sounds like something he'd say. Well, in that ca…actually…you said she was willing to make up for it right?_

"That's right. Why?"

 _Maybe you could use that to your advantage. Tell everyone else you wanted to simply get information from her, while secretly forcing her to let Akari-chan run tests and experiments on her. Just have her keep quiet about them._

"I see…good idea," Hirato thought for a bit, "Would she really stay silent though?"

 _If she values her promises she will. If not…get rid of her, I guess._

"Okay, sounds good," Hirato leaned back in his chair and sighed for a third time that night.

 _You okay, man?_

"Yeah, just really tired of having to take in strays. Not that I mind Gareki, Nai, Karoku, Yogi, or Tsukumo, but this is definitely getting out of hand. If she decides to stay you have to take her every other week."

This brought out a cackle of laughter from the other man. _Alright. But to do that you'd have to at least introduce her to me and my crew, right? Wanna set a date?_

Two violet orbs gleamed with mischievous glee, "I'd love to introduce her to you three. I'm sure she would _adore_ Kiichi and Jiki. How about this Thursday?"

 _Sounds good. See ya then!_ _Later! *Cl-click*_

"Kukuku," the dark-haired man laughed evilly, "Now _this_ is going to be entertaining!"

Ω

The next morning, about seven hours after Hirato spoke to Tsukitachi on the phone, everyone gathered in the dining room for breakfast. Tsukumo and Iva were the first to arrive. They looked a little tired, but all in all put together. Nai and Yogi came next. Nai had large circles under his eyes and Yogi had multiple bruises and bumps all over his body. The next two to join them were Gareki and Yuki. They looked exhausted, but were still bickering with one another. When Yuki walked into the room, Iva immediately leapt up from where she had sat down and proceeded to throw herself at the cat-girl in an untamable fury. Yuki, in defense, began to fly around the room kicking up objects in the hope of throwing her off guard. Unfortunately for her, Iva was anticipating a move like that and evaded the distractions to continue on her quest for vengeance.

Hirato and Karoku, the last to get there, were greeted by an assortment of flying objects, such as plates, food, people and silverware.

Yuki was bolting around the room trying to avoid Iva's attacks. Gareki was still trying to argue with her (it wasn't working quite as well as before, but you've got to give him credit for trying). Yogi had passed out on one of the chairs. Nai and Tsukumo were attempting (yet failing) to calm Iva before she lost it entirely.

The two men blinked simultaneously, before looking at each other. They sighed, not keen about having to calm everyone down.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTL- Ah! Hirato-san, good morning!" Even though Iva sounded cordial her actions toward the (terrified) cat-girl were anything but.

Hirato gave two very loud claps, getting everyone's attention. Well, everyone except Yogi, who was still asleep on the chair.

"Has everyone calm enough to listen to what I have to say?" he asked in a controlled voice.

The room went dead silent. Even Yuki had stopped jumping/flying around in the face of his authoritative question.

"Good. Now then, Yuki, I'd like to speak with you in my office, please. The rest of you clean this mess up and, after eating, meet me in the library." He then turned and walked back down the hall. Yuki raised her eyebrows slightly. She hadn't expected him to command her the way he had, or even use her actual name for that matter. She jumped down off the table that she had been standing on and dashed after him. Nai caught her as she went past him and quietly asked if she wanted him to come along. The cat-girl shook her head 'no' before bolting away.

She eventually fell into step with the dark-haired man as they walked in silence toward what she assumed was his office. _Haaah…I hope he doesn't ask me to do something stupid. Or kick me out. I don't really want to leave yet…well, that isn't entirely true…I would be perfectly happy to leave if he's gonna make me be in the same room with that green-haired lady. Even though I beat her yesterday she still scares me more than even Uro-sama when he's mad!_

"This way, Yuki," he turned down a different hall and stopped in front of one of the doors, "Here we are. Please, have a seat." Hirato gestured to the couch.

Yuki gently sat down, bracing herself for the worst. Thankfully, Hirato didn't feel like being cruel to her so he simply seated himself opposite her, cleared his throat, and began laying out the deal he had come up with after talking to Tsukitachi.

"Alright. I am willing to make a deal with you, Yuki," he paused glancing at her to make certain she was listening. He was impressed when he saw how business-like she had become. He then continued with his speech, "If you agree to let one of our best lab researchers…experiment on you and run tests, and cooperate with us by voluntarily divulging information on what you know about Kafka and its associates, I shall let you stay here as long as you are compliant. Is that good enough for you?" While he kept his face neutral, Hirato was genuinely interested in her answer.

Yuki tilted her head and flicked her tail in thought. After about a minute, she replied with, "Yes, those terms sound adequate. However, does this mean I shall be considered part of Circus while I am here?"

"No. You will be thought of as either a guest or a prisoner, depending on how many of my terms you accept."

"Well, I accept _all_ of the terms. I'm not quite as susceptible to pain when it is someone else inflicting it upon me, so the experimentation and testing shouldn't be too big of a deal, as long as whoever's cutting me up doesn't actually cut me up, I'd die if that happened. The information part though…I was never really kept in the loop when it came to important business, but I will tell you everything I do know." She fell silent after this last comment and waited for him to speak.

"Very well then. I shall have the sheep arrange a room for you. Would you mind bunking with Iva or Tsukumo if the need arises?" He knew full well that the two women he mentioned would hate him for even suggesting such an atrocity but he wanted to see who she was okay with.

"…Which is which?" Yuki asked with a frown.

"Iva is the one with green hair, Tsukumo is the blonde."

"I don't think either of them would prefer me as a roommate but if I had to choose, I'd pick Tsukumo. She hates me a lot less than Iva does."

Hirato snickered a little, "She really doesn't like you?"

"Well, let me put it this way…I have a sinking feeling that if I fell asleep in front her I would never wake up." She gave a little huff and leaned back against the couch.

"Haha! Oh, and by the way, how is your arm? I was surprised last night when you passed out. Normally, Post-Humans heal very quickly. Why didn't you?" he was honestly curious (verging on worried, in my opinion).

"Call it a mistake in my genetic make-up. While most creatures like me are capable of speedy regeneration, I have no healing abilities whatsoever. If I get injured I have to deal with it the way a normal human would," she paused and looked down at her arm. Then she continued in a soft voice by saying, "That's why I cut myself the way I did. In my mind, injuring my own body like that is an action of ultimate submission. I was showing you that I was willing to trust you enough to, quite literally, put my life in your hands." The cat-girl stopped again, a slight blush adorning her features.

Hirato's eyes widened ever so slightly. This was an interesting revelation. He tilted his head to the side a bit then said, "Why?"

Yuki gave a shiver and tucked her legs underneath her as if she was cold, "I…I'm not sure. Technically, I could have run away when we first fought. Even after, it just would have taken a little more work. But, the thing is, I don't understand why I _didn't_ , and it infuriates me to no end to not know WHY?!" she shouted this last part and glared at the coffee table in front of her.

The captain gave a small smile. Even though he didn't like her very much, she was beginning to interest him. She didn't ever act like he expected her to and he thought her reactions to different situations were amusing.

"Maybe this place feels more like home to you than where ever you came from," he pushed his glasses up a little, "Does that sound about right?"

She twitched, whipped her head up (now blushing a ruby red), and proceeded to spit out curses in embarrassment. Hirato simply laughed at her interesting choice of language. She certainly was fascinating.

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it. I'm really starting to enjoy writing this story. Oh, and by the way, I'm thinking of beginning a new story I'll call** ** _Silver and Gold._** **It will be another Karneval fanfic, but there won't be any OCs. It is still in consideration though. Anyway, thanks again for reading! Please, don't be afraid to review! Constructive criticism, encouragement, complains, suggestions, frustrations, etc...anything is appreciated!**

 **Later!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yay! I posted a new chapter before the weekend finished! Whew!**

 **I had a lot of fun working on this one. I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **To Salt_the_Catgirl: Thank you! :)**

 **To Apple of Eris: Thank you for your favorite! I hope I can continue to please you!**

 **To anyone who reads this chapter: Enjoy Chapter 6: Bad Memories**

While things straightened out between Gareki, Tsukumo, Karoku (who still kind of wished the cat-brat would leave) and Yuki relatively well, it took a lot more convincing, bickering, and harsh glares for Iva to accept the fact that Yuki would be staying with them from now on.

"WWWWHHHHHYYYYY!" she screeched irately.

"Because. I. Said. So." Hirato intoned for the hundredth time (he and Yuki had decided not to tell the others about their deal for the sake of their respective sanities). He was starting to get frustrated with the green-haired woman. When would she get over herself and talk to the girl without trying to kill her?!

"Umm…Iva-san?" Yuki tried to get the woman's attention.

"What do _you_ want, brat?" Iva hissed in reply.

"Er…I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help you realize that I'm not going to hurt anyone," the cat-girl shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, "I would really like to get along with you…" In her mind, however, there was a whole different conversation going on, _Yeah right! There's no way I'd actually try to make friends with this psycho! Darn you Hirato, why'd ya have to go and say 'She regrets her actions and would like to apologize." I don't wanna apologize! She should be sayin' sorry to me, not the other way around! Hmph…I am_ not _happy with this arrangement._ Even though she was thinking those furious thoughts, she still kept a slightly frightened look on her face. Nai was the only one who could tell just how enraged she was feeling to have to act like this. He smiled to himself. He had been quite happy to hear that Yuki would be staying on the ship with everyone else. Though he was a little curious about what Hirato and Yuki had talked about in his office, he trusted the cat-girl and was glad she seemed to be happier than before.

Iva, on the other hand, was anything but pleased with the little brat that hurt her captain. As she was swearing under her breath about the unfairness of it all, a brilliant idea came to her. She ceased her muttering and began to stare at the cat-brat evilly. Yuki shivered, feeling a murderous aura sweep over her. She turned around and saw that Iva was staring at her, bloodlust perfectly clear to the girl. The cat-girl shied away from the woman, taking refuge next to Nai instead (something _he_ was totally fine with).

"Actually," Iva sneered, "I do have something in mind." She paused, eyes glittering with excitement. Yuki's heart dropped straight to the floor. This was _not_ going to end well.

"If you are really as… _human_ as you say you are, then you won't be against fighting a couple Varuga for Circus. Right?" The question she spoke at the end was more of a challenge (or dare, if you like). Yuki raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of Varuga?" She asked, suspicious of the woman's intentions.

"Oh, just a Post-Animal we've had our eye on for a while," she paused, "It lives in the forests just outside Paiso. Think you can handle it?" Yuki glared at the woman, not noticing in her anger that the rest of the people in the room had begun to frown when Iva mentioned the Varuga's territory. No one was interested in going back there. That place harbored many bad memories.

Hirato was the first to state his displeasure with Iva's choice of location, "Iva, I refuse to take anyone to that country. You know what happened last time and I won't subject my subordinates to reliving that particular nightmare. You should know better." He frowned at her. Iva huffed, but she understood what he meant and relented.

"Fine. Then what if I took her there myself? _That_ incident didn't involve me directly so it isn't as painful. Please, Hirato. I want to test her. You know how difficult this mission is, not counting the emotional baggage of the location." The woman looked at Hirato with pleading eyes. She knew that he simply didn't want Gareki or Nai going back there.

"Haaah…fine. But _only_ you." He gave Nai a pointed look. Nai puffed out his cheeks and pouted a bit (not for too long though; he didn't ever want to go back there). Yuki smirked. _This is going to be a piece of cake!_ She thought, triumphantly.

"When do we leave?" She asked.

"How about now?" Iva looked at her with a scornful smile.

"Fine with me," came the sickly sweet reply. Yuki smiled back at Iva. One could practically see the sparks of lightning flashing between the two of them. The males all took about four steps backward, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire. Tsukumo was the smartest though; she had backed off before things escalated over the top.

"Should I assume you can keep up with me?" Iva remarked in a singsong voice.

"Why, yes of course, Iva-san," Yuki quipped back, imitating her tone perfectly, "In fact, I'm a little worried about you petering out before we get there. After all, you do seem to be getting a little old for high speeds, don't you think?"

If looks could kill, Yuki would be dead a million times over. Iva was barely keeping herself from attacking the girl with all she had.

"Is that so?" She hissed murderously, "Would you like to bet on me 'petering out' before you do?"

"If I had any money, yeah." The cat-girl snickered; entirely confident in her abilities (they had saved her life more times than she could count).

"How about we bet with our time?" Iva spat, "If I last the longest you'll be my servant for a week. If you do I'll be yours for a month. Sound good?" She glared haughtily at the girl.

"Are you going easy on me?" Yuki challenged.

"You are a lot younger than I am. Your poor body might tire out after all the work I'm going to put you through." The green-haired woman leered at her. She was also planning to put faith in her talents.

"Fine," the cat-girl purred, "We'll do this your way."

Ω

An hour later the two females were ready to go. They lined up at the ship's exit (they had to say a few 'goodbyes' before leaving), jumped out, and began their mission/race/stamina battle. They flew right next to each other and continued at the same pace for quite a while.

After covering two thirds of the way, Iva began to slow down. Yuki frowned at her; she wasn't even close to being tired and she thought that the woman would have been able to last for a lot longer than what they had done so far.

"Iva-san?" She asked with a hint of worry, "Are you okay?"

…

"Iva-san?"

…

Yuki pulled back to be next to the older woman.

"Iva! What's wrong?!" The cat-girl had concern plastered all over her face. Even though she didn't particularly enjoy Iva's company, she certainly bore no ill will against her.

Iva looked at her, blinking drowsily, "What?" she asked in confusion.

"Are you okay?!"

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"You didn't answer when I called. What happened?"

"Oh…I dunno. Guess I must've dozed off for a bit."

Yuki stared at her in disbelief, "Dozed off? While FLYING?!" the confused girl was practically shouting now.

"Yeah. You'd be surprised at how often it happens to me. Why do you care so much anyway?" the woman cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.

"I…you…who said I…wh-…haaaah. Never mind. I just…uh…didn't want to have to carry you to safety, or something like that…" she trailed off, frustrated with herself for worrying over nothing.

"Were you really worried about me?" Iva asked in curiosity.

Yuki blushed brightly, "Yes," she mumbled, honestly.

"Oh…" Iva was surprised. She thought that the cat-girl would be glad to be rid of her.

Said cat-girl looked away in embarrassment. Iva smiled a little at her, "Thank you." Yuki blushed even redder and put on a burst of speed to get ahead of the woman. Iva giggled a bit, before moving up to be next to her. After an hour of more flying Iva broke the silence between them by asking a rather personal question.

"Yuki? What was your childhood like?"

"Huh?" was the stunned reply.

"Did you not hear me?"

"No. I heard your words; I just don't really know why you asked." Yuki glanced at her, eyebrows raised (her blush was still slightly present, giving her an innocent appearance).

"Because I'm curious. Why else?"

"Okay then. Hmm…where should I start?"

"Try the beginning, genius."

"Haha…very funny," Yuki rolled her eyes at Iva's antics, "I suppose I'll start with my first master…"

Ω Nine years ago Ω

"KYAAAAAAAAA!" A young child screamed as he was torn away from his family. Even though he fought back, it had no effect on the man tugging at him. He simply huffed and ripped him out of his mother's arms. He threw the boy over his shoulder and carried him off. I never saw that kid again.

I was next. Thankfully, they weren't as harsh with me; mostly it was due to the fact that I didn't have any family to try to stay with. When the big man came to get me, I let him throw me over his shoulder, like he had with the boy, and carry me to a wagon, filled to the brim with other slave kids. He tossed me over the side, making me land on top of a boy who happened to be a lot bigger than I was. The boy shot me a murderous glare and shoved me off. Eventually, I was able to squeeze into a spot on the actual wood, instead of having to sit on one of the others. Five more joined us before we began our journey to the next buyer.

Eight grueling hours later, we reached our destination. The big man unlatched the back of the wagon and growled at us to get out. I waited till everyone else had jumped down before following. When I landed, I was immediately swept off my feet by a man. He was much shorter than the big one, but he was just as broad. He carried me and a few of the others over to a platform, where he set us all down and began attaching shackles to our feet. Apparently, we were up for sale first.

I had never been in a sale up till then. I had always been told I was too small to be of use. Now though, I was the subject of a loud bidding war. I was considered a high quality item because of my incredibly rare feline qualities (even though I was merely the result of some dumb scientist's experiment). All of the buyers were trying to get me. When the highest bid reached ten million yen things started to slow down. I was eventually bought for 10,090,000¥ by a man who looked like he was used to getting exactly what he wanted when he wanted it. In my case, he was successful.

He motioned for me to come with him. He led me to his expensive looking car and told me to get in. I did as I was asked before lapsing into my usual silence. My new master got in next to me, ordered his chauffeur to drive home, and settled in for the ride. A while later he began explaining what would be happening while I worked for him.

"Alright, here's how things are going to work while you're with me." He paused and looked at me; I blinked back at him, before twitching my ears and tilting my head to show I was listening. He smiled and continued, "You will obey to me and me alone. Ignore anyone else who tries to give you orders, unless I specifically tell you to listen to them. Do you understand?" I nodded quickly, "Good. Now, about your clothes. You will wear a black jumpsuit that is never to be taken off, except for when you take a shower. You will call me 'Master' unless I give you permission to call me otherwise. Do you have a name?" I nodded again and told him, 'Yuki.' He began again, "Okay then…Yuki. Any questions?" I shook my head, "Good. Ah…here's my house. Welcome to your new home, Yuki." He smiled at me again and opened the car door. I looked up at my 'new home' and my jaw dropped straight to the floor. It wasn't a house. It was a mansion! I was really excited to have been bought by this person. Unfortunately, my thoughts were ill-founded. 'Master' wasn't a nice person. He beat me often for things I didn't do and his go-to punishment for any lesser… _crime_ was withholding my meals. It took me about a week to learn to hate him with every fiber of my being.

I was owned by him for two years; after that he grew tired of abusing me, so he sold me to some rookie trader, who decided he wanted to brand all his merchandise with their names. I got **2521119**. He then began giving us medicine, as he called it, which made a lot of the other slaves sick. Some of them even died. They were the lucky ones, though. You have no idea how painful having your body turning against itself is. It felt like I was being pulled inside out.

After my transformation was completed, I was put back on the market. That was when I was bought by Uro-sama. He's my current master. I actually like having Uro-sama as my owner; he made me feel at home the moment I got to his house. The main reason being Ka-chan and Haru-chan, or Kagiri and Kiharu as most people call them, think of me as a little sister and have always regarded me as such. I complete missions for Uro-sama and in return he treats me well. There really isn't much else to say. In short, my childhood was awful and I'm, relatively, happy with the life I have now.

Ω

Iva blinked in astonishment. They had landed in the forests outside of Paiso ten minutes ago and were sitting underneath a tree (their bet had been totally forgotten). It wasn't often that she was stunned into silence, but this time she couldn't even _think_ of something to say. She had started to pity the cat-girl about half way through her story and felt like giving her a comforting hug now that she was done. The woman looked down at the ground in front of her. _I wish I hadn't been so harsh with her. She's been through enough already. Poor thing…_

"Do you pity me?" Yuki asked, eyes hidden behind her bangs.

"…Y-yes. Should I not?" Iva had finally found her voice.

"Well, I don't need your sympathy," she paused and glanced at her companion, "I've never gotten any before and I would rather keep it that way." She crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back against the tree. She hated telling people her life story. It brought back way too many memories. _I wish I could just forget about what happened to me before Uro-sama boug-_

She was interrupted mid-thought by two arms wrapping around her upper torso. Her body was softly pulled into the older woman's embrace. Iva stroked the cat-girl's hair and hugged her tighter. Yuki found herself blinking back tears. _I'm crying? Why? I never cry! Haah…something is seriously wrong with me…_ She let Iva squeeze her gently and allowed her tears to flow without restraint. It had been years, nine to be exact, since she had cried over her painful past. Everything she had experienced over the years was washed away with every tear she wept.

 **Well...originally Iva and Yuki were supposed to stay enemies but I like this version much better. Hope you did too!**

 **A few notes: As Salt_the_Catgirl mentioned in her review, the 'rookie' trader is Meiga. In addition, Yuki's first master isn't anyone from the manga or anime. I simply made up his character, he doesn't even have a name, to be honest.**

 **Alright, thank you again for reading my story and I hope you have enjoyed it so far!**

 **Later!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yikes! A whole week late! I sincerely apologize. I got caught up with the first chapter of a new story called** ** _Silver and Gold_** **(along with a bad bout of laziness). 0.o**

 **I would like to send a thank you to the guest reviewer and to Salt_the_Catgirl! I really appreciate your thoughts!**

 **Also thank you: Sunsets-N-Pain and BaconPANCAK3S (I love your user name, btw :3) for the fav/follow!**

 **I certainly hope that this chapter makes up for last week!**

 **Now then, I present Chapter 7:** **Feuerkraft**

Iva rubbed Yuki's back gently. The cat-girl was still hiccupping a bit, but she had regained some control over herself. She sniffled and rubbed her stinging eyes. The green-haired woman smiled down at her. Yuki blushed for a second time that night, before glancing shyly up at Iva.

"Thank you…" she whispered softly.

"Don't worry sweetie, Nee-san will always be there for you! I promise!" Iva clenched her fist and punched it into the air, "Anytime you have trouble Nee-san will make everything better, alright?"

Yuki blinked, a little startled at the show of bravado, and then gave the woman a beautiful smile. (Iva almost cried, it was so adorable) The young girl wrapped her arms around Iva's waist and hugged her, saying, "Thank you, Nee-san! I love you!" She really meant what she said this time; there wasn't a single insincere thought in her mind.

Iva chuckled happily, "Come on, Yuki, let's finish up this mission and go home, okay?"

"Hai! Iva nee-san!" The cat-girl sang happily. The two females stood and began discussing their next move.

Ω

 _SWISH_

 _CRACK_

 _SNAP_

ROOOAAAAR!

Iva dodged the sharp horn that was aimed at her head. Yuki kicked the large beast they were chasing in what she assumed was its back, and knocked it to the ground. Iva shouted "KRONE SAPPHIR!" and blew up a large portion of the horse-like Post-Animal.

Yuki landed on top of the monster, summoning two identical bowie knives. She expertly spun them around in her hands and plunged them into its thrashing body. She muttered for a bit. The unfortunate creature stopped as its bulk began to glow ominously. The cat-girl purred soothingly and whispered to it gently. With a large burst of red flames, the creature turned to ash that drifted away in the wind.

Iva jumped up excitedly, "YAHOO! Nice job, Yuki-chan!" The woman grinned happily at her. Yuki giggled, leapt over to her and hugged her tightly. Iva patted her between the ears.

"Ne, Yuki-chan?" She asked.

"Hai, Iva nee-san?"

"What was that attack you used just now?" The older woman looked at the singed trees above them.

Yuki backed up and showed her the two knives she held. They had silvery red blades with jet black hilts that were adorned with thin leather straps making it easier to hold. She closed her eyes and chanted something Iva couldn't understand. The blades began to pulse with a fiery red glow. Yuki looked at her weapons lovingly. They had gotten her out of many sticky situations and she absolutely adored them. She explained that the blades were her favorite out of the collection she was capable of creating.

"While Ka-chan and Haru-chan use physical and spell-type attacks, I come up with my own artillery, in my mind, and am able to summon any of them whenever I want. These knives are my favorite," she stroked one of the blades with her thumb, "Aren't they beautiful?"

Iva stared in awe at the weapons, "Amazing…how do you make them glow like that?"

"I suppose you could call it my aura. Basically, I focus on channeling my energy into them and they glow," The cat-girl tilted her head and twitched her ears as a thought came to her. She then smiled a bit and said, "Try touching it," she held out one of the blades to Iva.

The older woman looked at her like she was crazy, "Will it hurt?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not if I can help it," Yuki stared up at her, eyes almost daring her to try it.

"Fine…" Iva cautiously reached her hand out and placed it in the glow, or rather, she _tried_ to place it in the glow. Somehow she was never able to actually touch it. She frowned and looked back to Yuki. The girl was chuckling with amusement.

"I did say try, didn't I? Don't worry, Iva. It isn't your fault. It's called 'Feuerkraft.' It does exactly what I want it to and is extremely hot. The only way I would let you actually touch it, is if I needed to kill you quickly, but seeing as how we are friends now, I promise it will never harm you." Yuki flicked her tail happily and made a cat-like sound of satisfaction.

Iva laughed at the noise, "Well then, now that we've gotten everything cleared up, why don't we go back home? I'm sure Nai is worried sick over you." Yuki blushed (for a third time; she was breaking records here!), making Iva laugh harder, "Come on, kitty-cat!" The woman leapt into the air to avoid the girl's furious swipe. Yuki gave chase and pretty soon they were flying at top speed back to the Second Ship.

Ω

When they returned (laughing and teasing each other) they were met by the sheep who bleated robotically, "Welcome back, baa. Welcome back, baa." The two females pleasantly replied as expected and proceeded on to the captain's office.

When Hirato saw them acting like best friends (a feat he thought would _never_ happen) he was flabbergasted. It took a whole minute for him to sort out his thoughts and speak to them. Yuki, in the meantime, crossed her arms and sent him a triumphant grin.

"Well?" She asked happily.

"H-h-how?" An uncharacteristic stutter broke up his calm voice.

"Yuki and I had a little…heart to heart talk while we were gone," Iva replied, rubbing the cat-girl's head affectionately, "Turns out, that she isn't as bad as I first thought. Just a little misunderstood is all."

"O-oh…" the dark-haired man cleared his throat quietly before continuing, "So you're friends now?" He looked at them in disbelief.

"That's right!" Yuki chirped easily, "Iva nee-san and I had a lot of fun together!" She was beginning to get a little tired, so in an attempt to steer the conversation to a fast close she said, "We beat the Varuga pretty quickly and then came back."

Iva smiled at her. She, apparently, understood that the girl wanted to sleep therefore she told Hirato that she would give him a full report later but that she was tired and wanted to rest for a bit. Yuki looked at her gratefully and tried to follow the green-haired woman out. She was stopped by a command consisting of a forceful, "KITTEN, STAY!" coming from Hirato. She winced and glanced back at him. He was frowning at her. _Great! What did I do this time?! I made friends with Iva…isn't that enough!? I wanna go to bed!_ She didn't say any of this but she definitely thought it.

"Hai, Hirato-san," she sighed and waved Iva on. The woman looked at her sympathetically, before spinning on her heel and returning to her quarters for some much needed sleep (both girls had been up for a full 24 hours).

Hirato pointed at a chair; he was still frowning at her. Yuki sat down meekly. She really didn't want to listen to a scolding and she really, really wanted to go to sleep. It had been a loooong day, plus she had been up almost all of the previous night fighting with Gareki after he had patched her arm up (which still hurt, making this imminent 'talk' with Hirato even less appealing than it already was). Yuki gave a long sigh, lifted her head and resigned herself to her impending doom.

The dark-haired man crossed his arms and stared at her. She fidgeted at first under the scrutiny of his gaze, but stilled when she grew used to it. They sat like that for a while; neither moving, just them watching each other intently. Hirato was the first to speak, "What did you two talk about?" He still had a slight frown, but it was a lot lighter and his eyes had almost begun to smile (he was kind of proud of her for standing up to his gaze).

Yuki tilted her head and twitched her ears, "I told her about my past. It was more…painful than she anticipated. By telling her about it, along with a few other…things, she began to see me in a different light," she stopped, curling her arms around herself, "I'm glad she accepts me…but it was kind of hard to tell her something like that."

"What kind of past do you have?" Hirato asked in curiosity.

"…One I am not willing to explain to you right now. I will eventually, but not now," Yuki regarded him tiredly, "I'm exhausted, I still feel emotional from my story telling, and my arm hurts…a lot! I am perfectly willing to explain…tomorrow. May I go to bed now?"

Hirato's brow finally smoothed out and he even gave the girl a sympathetic smile, "Of course, Yuki. I'll have one of the sheep take you to your room. I hope you don't mind sharing with Karoku. I had the sheep put up a curtain to give you a little privacy if you would like to be alone. Will that be okay?" He had glanced down at his suit, pausing to brush off a few invisible crumbs, and when he looked up he noticed that Yuki's head was in her hands and she was cursing his very existence. Hirato smirked at the cat-girl (he knew exactly how much Karoku hated her but it was fun watching her squirm) before calling one of the sheep in and ordering it to take her to the room she would be staying in…with Karoku. He was _so_ going to use this to his advantage as much as he possibly could. She was just so much fun to play with!

Ω

As Yuki was trudging to the room she was sharing with Karoku, she began contemplating just how much she liked being alive and wished with all her heart that she wouldn't wake up to some kind of nasty surprise the man would have cooked up. _Haaaah…this is going to be a long night, isn't it? Actually, I wonder if I should ask him about the person I was sent to anger. Uro-sama called that man Karoku…but Nai called the other guy Karoku too, and they look identical. HOW COME?!_ The cat-girl growled while tousling her hair angrily. The sheep she was following turned back to her and bleated, "What is wrong, baa? What is wrong, baa?"

"Ah…sorry…er…Sheep-san," Yuki smiled at it, sheepishly, "I'm fine, just a little frustrated with, everything really. Thank you for worrying," the cat-girl took a few steps ahead of it, brushing her tail against it gently. It reached out a small had to touch the unusual object. Yuki giggled as its paw came into contact with her fur. She was really starting to grow fond of the little critters and wanted to do her best to be as nice to them as possible.

After a few more minutes of walking, the sheep stopped in front of a door and blipped, "Here we are, baa. Here we are, baa."

"Thank you!" The girl stood in front of the door, a hand on the knob. The sheep bowed slightly and dashed off to its next job, humming cheerfully to itself. Yuki sighed quietly, hoping that Karoku had already been warned so she wouldn't have to deal with explaining the whole situation. She braced herself and opened the door.

"Um…Karoku-sa-"

 _FWHUMP_

A large, fluffy pillow connected with the girl's face. As it slid from her face, a furious Karoku was revealed. He had his one hand on his hip, the other still extended from the throw and was glaring at her accusingly, "What did you tell Hirato to make him let you to stay?" He stomped over to the cat-brat, still angry about the fact that Nai was willing to defy him just to defend her.

"Er…I…did you just…ummm…I t-told him that I was willing to cooperate and would allow myself to be used by him. Does that answer your question, Karoku-san?" She, somehow, was able to get over her initial shock at being hit in the face (with a pillow of all things) to give him an acceptable reply.

"Humph!" Karoku frowned at her with an indignant huff, "I suppose so. However," he jabbed his finger in the girls face, "I still don't like you and I refuse to hand Nai over to you! Got that!" Yuki nodded vigorously. She had no desire to upset the blue-haired man any further (he seemed to be Nai's guardian, after all).

The cat-girl bowed her head a little, trying to look submissive, "I-is there anything you would like me to say, or do, to prove that I am trustworthy? I would like to get along with you…if that's alright with you, of course."

Karoku raised an eyebrow at her. Unlike Iva, he wasn't as devious in his thinking so the assignment he thought up for her was less of a pain to accomplish, "Read this and give me a full summary in the morning," he shoved a book at her. The title read 'War and Peace' and it was amazingly thick.

Yuki took the huge book, glanced up at the ceiling for a bit and stated in a monotonous voice, "As a member of a dissolute, upper-class crowd, Pierre Bezukhov is a troublemaker who criticizes governmental policies. At night he frequents drunken card parties with a fast crowd, including Anatole Kurgagin and Fedya Dolokhov, whom Tolstoy describes as 'an officer and a desperado.' Another member of the group, Prince Andrew, is a patriot who is determined to defend his country and aristocratic way of life. The novel soon introduces the Rostov family as they prepare a celebration for their youngest daughter Natasha…*" She continued on for quite some time and eventually finished giving a complete report that included all fifteen parts of the enormous book. Karoku was stunned speechless. He had read the book a few times, but not even he could have given such a magnificent summary of the book. Especially not from memory!

The older boy stared at the cat-brat in awe, "H-how did you d-do that?" he stuttered.

"Uro…uh…I mean, Master used to have me memorize classical books, write summaries on them and engage in discussions about their content with him," she smiled, remembering the fun they had, "Every so often we would really get into it. One time we got so enthralled in our argument, neither of us ate or slept for two whole days!" The cat-girl snickered, "Master looked positively ill when we finally finished."

"I-is that so?" Karoku plastered on a bewildered smile, "So he has kept you educated then?"

"Yup!" Yuki chirped with a flick of her tail, "He decided when he bought me that he was going to both use and tutor me. I don't really know why he chose to do so, but even now he still teaches me many different things." The corners of her mouth twitched as the look on the blue-haired man's face went from bewildered to downright confused (he still didn't know that she was a slave).

The young man frowned to himself, deep in thought. After about two minutes of heavy concentration, he looked down at her, and stated calmly, "Well, I suppose I don't mind getting along with someone who is, at the very least, well read," he paused for a bit, before saying, "Are you willing to be cordial with me?"

The girl blinked, smiled warmly at him, and said, "Of course, Karoku-san! I'd be happy to get along with you!"

He gave a small sigh, "Good. Now then, I'm sure you are tired. You get the upper bunk since I've been staying in the lower one for a while now. Is that alright?"

"Hai!" She gave the floor a little test bounce and leapt right over his head. She landed on the twin mattress above Karoku's and settled in for the night. The man she so expertly jumped over, stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head. He was used to strange people (Seeing as how he lived with a group called _Circus_!) but she definitely was the strangest.

 _I certainly hope we can get along._ He thought as he readied himself for bed, too. _If she is able to remember that much about_ War and Peace _of all things, I guess she can't be all bad. I suppose I can learn a bit more about her in the morning._

"Goodnight…Yuki," he called hesitantly. All that he heard in reply was the soft, even sound of her breathing as she slept. He smiled and thought; _Well…at least she doesn't snore._

 ***** **Taken directly from:**

 **. # =0 (AAARRRGGG! WHY DOESN'T LET YOU POST WEBSITE IDS!? Hopefully, I will be able to post it on my profile.)**

 **(I only added the first 'As,' put a space between 'the' and 'Rostov,' and exchanged a period with an ellipsis)**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If there are any complaints or questions, please review and I will try to come up with answers to them!**

 **Later!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Haaah...this chapter is a lot shorter than my previous ones but it has an important piece of character development (just Yuki).**

 **To Salt-the-Catgirl: Thanks for the info. I've seen some other websites written like that but I didn't know it was the only way to show the whole ID. I'm glad you think I doing well! Your opinion means a lot! :)**

 **To grandpamuffin: I'm always happy to help! XD Your stories are great and I love reading them! :)**

 **I would also like to thank anyone who simply continues to read my silly story just for fun! I hope that I will always please! :)**

 **Now then, without further ado...I present Chapter 8: The Smiling Creature**

 **(I do not own Karneval, even though I wish I did)**

* * *

 _TAP_

 _TAP_

 _TAP_

Yuki glanced up from the knife she had been cleaning. It was still dark outside and Karoku was still sleeping. She had fallen asleep easily, but had woken after only four hours due to a particularly frightening nightmare. The cat-girl got up to look out the window, trying to figure out what was making the 'tapping' noise.

What she saw was a pleasant surprise. It was one of Uro's Varuga birds. He usually sent them when he had additional orders for her to follow. She quickly glanced at Karoku and, seeing that he was still sound asleep, quietly opened the window. Yuki leapt onto the sill and leaned out to hear her master's message.

"Where. Are. You." Those three words made the cat-girl shiver with dread. Even though Uro-sama was kind to her, when something went wrong he could be quite irritable. She was very, very, very glad that she wasn't in Ka-chan's or Haru-chan's position. He must be throwing a fit.

"I am perfectly aware that you are capable of handling yourself…however, if you don't get your backside home soon I am going to kill the two idiots you call brothers," the recording took a deep breath, "I demand a reason for your tardiness. It is quite unlike you to be so very late," the bird paused looking slightly worried for her. Yuki grimaced, _Sorry Uro-sama. I'm so, so sorry. Please don't kill Ka-chan and Haru-chan! I'll try my best to explain the little predicament I've gotten myself into. Sorry!_ She nodded at the bird with a strained smile. It twittered quietly and continued, "Come home soon, Yuu-chan. Everyone misses you. Even the trees look droopy," Yuki heard a light chuckle, "Stay safe…or else!" There was another short bout of quiet laughter as the recording came to an end.

Yuki smiled softly. Leave it to Uro-sama to try to make her laugh, even when he was upset with her. The messenger bird shook itself and looked expectantly at her, awaiting a response. Yuki thought for a moment before bobbing her head at it. The bird opened its mouth for the cat-girl to speak into.

"Sorry, Uro-sama. I know I've been gone for a long time, but I have a really good reason." She paused, took a deep breath and continued, "I'm on Circus's Second Ship. There is a long complicated story behind how I got here and I promise I'll explain later. For now I need you to tell me what I should do. So far everyone seems to trust me but I don't know what to do next." Yuki swallowed, just barely able to hold back her tears, "I really miss you guys too," she choked on a sob, "The people here are nice, but I wanna come home." The cat-girl was crying openly now (for a _third_ time in forty-eight hours), "What should I do Uro-sama? Please tell me what I should do. I know I should be trying to learn more about them but I…" Her shoulders shook with misery, "Sorry Uro-sama, I know you don't like it when I get emotional." She took a shuddering breath and finished up her report, "Anyway, I'm alright; I have completed my original objective; I really miss you guys to, and I need new orders. Good-bye." Yuki exhaled slowly, wiped her eyes and nodded at the messenger bird. It ruffled its feathers before flying off with a squawk.

The cat-girl watched it leave. She then realized that dawn was beginning to break over the horizon. _Haaah…a new day. Hey…isn't this my first day actually_ on _the ship? Yesterday I spent with Iva nee-san and I arrived the night before that. Heh! I can't wait to explore a bit._

"Yuki?"

She turned around and saw that her new roomie, Karoku, was awake, or was at least trying to _appear_ awake. He had terrible bed head, his eyes were still half closed, and his blankets were tangled around his legs. The blue-haired man blinked blearily at her and yawned, "Have you been up for long?"

"Just a few hours. Did you sleep well?" The cat-girl smiled warmly at him.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. You?" He yawned again before stretching languidly. When he didn't get an immediate answer from Yuki, he glanced at her in surprise. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"Not so good. But there is no need to worry, it had nothing to do with you," Yuki looked down at the ground as an unconscious shiver ran through her body.

"It?" Karoku was fully awake now and, despite the girl's words, couldn't help but feel concern for her well-being.

"…Nightmare…" She muttered with a frown.

Karoku's eyes widened, "You have nightmares? I thought you were just an over-confident brat with some odd…emotional complex…thing…" he trailed off, realizing (with more than a touch of horror) what he had said to her. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say that!"

"Hahaha!" Yuki laughed at his stuttering, "It's alright, Karoku-san. I've had worse things said about me." She pushed herself off the sill she had been leaning against and took a few steps toward him, another smile relighting her features, "I do give strange reactions to different situations, don't I?"

"Heh heh…" Karoku was still blushing slightly at his rudeness, "What kind of nightmares do you have, Yuki?" He figured he could get out of sounding like an idiot if he brushed his words aside rather than dwelling on them in embarrassment.

Once more, the glee disappeared from her face but this time, instead of fear replacing it, a haunted look, that someone of her age shouldn't possess, appeared. The ground wasn't what occupied her gaze though. Instead, she simply continued to stare at the blue-haired man in silence. Karoku's eyes searched her own, desperate to find even the smallest amount of light in the depths of the red and blue orbs. He found nothing to suggest that the girl standing in front of him was the same one who, not even five minutes before, had been smiling at him in amusement. She blinked slowly and said, with the barest hint of malice, "You need not concern yourself with my mental state, Karoku-san. It has nothing to do with you, so please do not question me on this subject again. Do you understand me?"

Karoku flinched away from her. He was the first person on the Second Ship to see Yuki's less amiable side and he had no wish to see any more of it, "Yes," he whispered, "I understand." The man continued to watch her, hoping that she would suddenly burst into laughter at his gullibility. However…the look in Yuki's eyes never wavered. Her body may have relaxed and the sweet smile she tended to wear may have reappeared on her face, but Karoku didn't notice any of that. He only saw her eyes. They still had the haunted quality from before but there was another emotion in them this time, cold fury.

"Excellent, Karoku-san." The smiling creature chirped her next words, feigning delight, "I hope that we can continue to get along as well as we have been."

Just as she finished there was a knock on their door. Karoku forced himself to say, "Come in!" It opened to reveal Nai, Yogi, and Gareki all peering in (trying to see if any blood had been shed overnight). Nai let out a strange noise of happiness and bounded over to his catty friend. He stopped when he noticed that her eyes were closed. He could tell she was trying to hide something from him and he didn't like it.

"Yuki-chan!" Nai came up to her and took hold of her limp hand, "Are you okay? Did you sleep well? How did yesterday go? Why are your eyes closed? You and Karoku didn't fight di-" He was cut off by a gentle finger on his lips. Yuki had finally opened her eyes and was half smirking at him. Karoku noticed that the cold dead look from before was no longer present. He wondered if Nai was the only thing keeping her from looking like that all the time.

"Shh," Yuki breathed softly, "I'm fine. Just a little tired," she smiled at the albino and tilted her head, tail flicking with pleasure, "How about you?"

"Well, I was kind of worried that you and Iva might get into a fight…or something…like her trying to kill you…maybe…I would certainly hope not…buuut…Iva-san does have a scary personality when she isn't being…nice." He kept moving his head from side-to-side as he spoke each phrase. The cat-girl giggled slightly at his antics.

"Oi! Cat-brat!" Gareki growled at her while leaning his head back (like some kind of lame gangster), "What happened yesterday? Iva's not sayin' much and Karoku here looks like he's seen a ghost." The eighteen-year-old glared at the cat-girl, who was gazing so softly at _his_ younger friend. Gareki was slightly surprised that Karoku hadn't ripped her apart for getting so close to little Nai.

"Mou, Gareki-kun! Be nice to Yuki-chan! She already proved herself to Iva nee-san and if Iva accepts her isn't that good enough for you?" Yogi gave Gareki's shoulder a small push of exasperation, inciting a harsh glare from the younger boy (…Man? Teen? Hmmm…well, you know eighteen year old boys, it's a toss-up; even on their good days…). The blonde man sighed, _There's just no getting through to him. Haaah…sorry Yuki-chan, I tried…_

Yuki flicked her eyes over to Gareki. He was frowning at her in frustration. A smile ghosted across her face as she said, "Thank you Yogi, but it's okay, really. I don't mind telling him that yesterday went very well and that Iva-san and I are now friends. Also, Karoku-san and I are getting along quite well now. Isn't that right, Karoku-san?" She looked over at the blue-haired man. He was still a little pale from his previous encounter with _that_ Yuki.

"Y-yes. That's right. I must say that Yuki is a rather interesting person," he met her eyes again and smiled warmly, "She is quite brilliant and has a magnificent memory. I hope to be able to speak with her more at a later date." To himself he thought, _However, if her hidden emotions start affecting Nai I am going to Hirato and demanding that she be either transferred or kicked out entirely, regardless of Nai's protesting. She is far, far too dangerous for his fragile psyche._

Nai, glad that Yuki seemed to have been accepted by all his friends, cheerfully asked if everyone wanted to go to breakfast together. When he got a round of 'yes's from those present he grabbed Yuki's hand and proceeded to lead the way.

* * *

 **That's all folks! (I don't own Loony Tunes either) Hope you liked it! By the way, I won't be posting new chapters for about two to three weeks. My magnificent editor, aka: my spectacular, wonderful, loving, funny, incredible mother (I 3 U Mama!), is going on a ten day trip and I would be positively lost without her. So I will be taking a short hiatus. I'll try to make up for the lost time when she gets back!**

 **Thanks for everything, ya'll! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**YAY! My wonderful editor came back safe and sound (read: MY MOMMY IS BACK! YAHOOOOOOOOOOO!) and I am able to post this new chapter without any mistakes (I hope).**

 **Enough of my random babbling on with Chapter 9: The Picture Frame**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 _FWOOSH_

"I'm home!" A tall red-haired man sang the entrance code for the Second Ship. He had been quite pleased when Hirato had called with the news about their unexpected guest. He couldn't wait to meet her (naturally, he 'forgot' to tell Jiki and Kiichi; he wanted to be the first to meet her)

"Ooooi! Hirato! Where are you?" The red head fixed his clothes and began marching through the halls happily, "Where aaaare yooou? Hiiiiraaaatooooo!" The man swung his arms back and forth like a child. He was in no hurry so he took his time getting to his friend's office (Hirato could almost always be found there). On his way there he happened to pass by the dining room. He heard voices so he decided to peek in. When he did he chuckled happily.

He wasn't sure of what transpired between the time of Hirato's phone call and now, but he was certainly pleased to see it. Everyone in the room (save Tsukumo who was merely observing with a small smile) was crowded around one black-haired girl sitting peacefully at the table. The red head noted that she really did seem to have cat ears and a tail, just like Hirato had said. _That is curious_ , he thought with a hint of mischief, _Hirato was telling the truth when he said she's a cat-girl, huh? I wonder if I can use that to my advantage…hm…sounds like fun!_ The man grinned, before waltzing in and announcing his presence, "Helloooooo, everyone! Tsukitachi-sama has arrived! Oh, and please try to keep your enthusiasm contained, I've had a long flight and am not really in the mood for craziness…unless it is absolutely unavoidable, that is." Everyone looked at him and blinked.

Yuki had lolled her head over the back of the chair and stared at the red head, an amused smirk set on her face, "Hello there! My name is Yuki."

"Ah! So you are the one Hirato told me about." Tsukitachi bowed gracefully, "My name is-"

"Tsukitachi-sama, yes?" Yuki flipped up and over the back of the chair, landing in front of the man. She mimicked a deep curtsy before grinning cheekily up at him.

Tsukitachi chortled. Everyone was _always_ stiff around him so the cat-girl's banter was definitely appreciated. He stretched out a hand and rubbed her head affectionately. She was a bit startled at first but when Tsukitachi began scratching her behind her ears she started purring happily. Behind the ears was the only spot on her body that could incite such a spontaneous reaction. The red head smirked and lifted his other hand to do the same. He enjoyed the noise and was wondering if she could do it any louder. She could. The utterly silent room filled with the sounds of her bliss. Nai frowned, jealousy clearly written on his face. He crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks angrily. Gareki couldn't help but see the boy in his niji form; he nearly died trying to keep from laughing.

"Hey, Yuki-chan?" The ruby eyed boy walked towards them, "What are you doing?"

"She's purring, Nai-chan," Tsukitachi glanced up at him, "Cats purr when they are happy and apparently Yuki-chan in no exception," he looked back down at the helpless cat-girl and cooed, "Isn't that right, my cute little putty-tat." Yuki nodded dreamily. Uro-sama only patted her when he was very happy (usually due to alcohol or an extraordinarily successful mission) and her brothers were always far too busy getting into trouble (or being punished) to pay special attention to her. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and there was no way she was going to do anything to mess it up.

Finally (much to Nai's relief and Yuki's consternation), Tsukitachi withdrew his hands and folded them behind his head, with another chuckle. Hirato, who had been observing the interaction with more than a little bit glee, stepped lightly over to the red head and said, "Yuki, this is my colleague Tsukitachi. He's captain of Circus' First Ship. I asked him to come over so I could introduce you to him. I meant for him to bring along the rest of his crew but, apparently, he forgot." The dark-haired man cuffed the back of his friend's head.

Tsukitachi laughed, "Ah well! I suppose there's nothing I can do about them now!" He grinned at Hirato, before turning towards the others and giving them all a chipper, "How's it goin' everybody?" He got mixed reactions (Gareki, Iva, Karoku, and Tsukumo either grunted or bowed politely, while Nai and Yogi chirped a happy greeting).

The cat-girl raised an eyebrow, "Did he come to take me away?" Hirato blinked at her, before wincing at the sound of Nai's loud screech.

"WHAT?!" The young albino was furious, "You said she could stay, Hirato-san!" Hirato tried to calm him down but Nai wasn't listening, "She even went on a mission with Iva to prove herself! Were you lying?! Karoku says it's bad to lie! Not even adults should do it! So why are you?!"

Yuki came to Hirato's rescue, "He wasn't lying, Nai-chan. I suppose I should have worded my question better. What I meant to say was: did he come to take me to meet the rest of his crew, seeing as how he didn't bring them with him in the first place? I didn't intend to worry you so much." She smiled softly at Nai as he sighed heavily in relief.

He then, much to her surprise, strode over to her, grabbed her hand and addressed the captains rather forcefully, "If she is going to visit the First Ship, I'm coming too. There is no way she can meet Jiki-kun and Kiichi-chan without them making her fly off the handle," he stomped his foot to emphasize his announcement.

The two men laughed and told him that his coming would be a veritable blessing in disguise if the meeting went the way they expected it to. Nai nodded his head in affirmation and asked when they would leave. Tsukitachi was the one to respond, "Right now, if possible. I didn't tell the bunnies where I was going and I'm sure Jiki and Kiichi are worried," he held out a hand to each of the half-breeds, "Shall we go?" Yuki smiled and took the hand offered to her. Nai did the same and, before they could say good-bye to the others, Tsukitachi had whisked them down the hall, out the entrance and into the big beautiful world around them.

Ω

 _…_ _I really miss you guys too, and I need new orders. Good-bye._

Uro gazed blankly at the wall. It wasn't often that Yuki sounded so desperate. Then again, she hadn't ever been away from home for longer than a week, without at least being able to speak with her family directly. The brown-haired man frowned as he considered Yuki's pain. He would never tell her directly, but he cared for her more than any other person he had ever met. She was, in his mind, nearly perfect. She obeyed any order, she could be kind or cruel, depending on _his_ mood (an amazing feat in and of itself), she completed every mission he gave her perfectly, and he hardly ever had to discipline her. The one fault he saw in her was her insistence upon only eating when absolutely necessary; hence she was also one of the skinniest creatures he had ever met. Even now, he couldn't get her to tell him why she was so adamant about that.

He was just about to respond to her request for new orders when the two idiots she loved so much came bursting in through the open door. They were both shouting at the top of their lungs about how they wanted to bring their precious snowflake back. Uro pinched the bridge of his nose. If Yuki was here she would do everything in her power to keep those two bumbling bozos away from him when he didn't want to deal with them. He really needed her to come back.

After listening to Kagiri and Kiharu holler for a while, he roared, "QUIET DOWN, YOU TWO!" He was beginning to get a headache, "What do you want?"

When Kagiri had stopped shaking in fear, he responded with a hesitant, "We want to go find Yuki and bring her back. She hasn't sent any word, and Kiharu and I are worried. Can we go?"

Uro thought for a moment. The two post-humans would probably be capable of getting to the Circus ship but they might have more trouble with the crew she was currently staying with. "No, you may not." He stood and walked away from his desk, "She is dealing with a precarious situation and you two may compromise her if you show up out of the blue. I sent a message to her a few days ago and got a response this morning; she said that she is fine, she misses us and she completed her original mission. Now she is working on infiltrating Circus' Second Ship, and I will not, under _any_ circumstances," he glared at the two post-humans, "allow you idiots to mess this up for her."

Kagiri cowered under his master's stare while Kiharu (in a fit of pure bravery) took a short step in Uro's direction, "U-um, Uro-sama? I-if it isn't too much trouble…do you think we could, maybe, listen to Yuki-chan's…message? Would that be all right?" After he had said his piece all the courage he felt from before leaked out of his very pores. He shrunk behind his smarter friend and waited for an answer.

Uro tilted his head and thought for a moment about Kiharu's request. "Hm…well then, Kiharu, Kagiri, come here." He lifted an arm for his Varuga bird to land on. When it did, he stroked the underside of its neck and told it to replay Yuki's message.

Once again the bird opened its mouth and repeated the report. At the end of it all three of the men were either in tears or close to it (for some strange reason Uro was more affected by Yuki's words, and subsequent emotions, than he was the first time; he really was about to cry).

"Yuuuuuukiiiiiii-chaaaan!" The two post-humans bawled their little sister's name pitifully, "Please don't cry! We miss you too! WAAAAAAAAH!" Kiharu and Kagiri clung to each other and sobbed.

Uro rubbed his eyes quickly before growling, "If you two are going to cry, do so outside. I'm very busy and I don't have time to comfort either of you. Go away." He shooed them out and sank heavily back into his desk chair, "Oh, Yuki…I'm so sorry." He ran a hand through his hair tiredly. Then he gave his courier bird a new message, "Yuu-chan…don't worry," he paused, trying to swallow the growing lump in his throat, "You don't have to be afraid, everything is going to be all right." Uro took a deep breath, let it out slowly and continued quietly (just in case the two idiots were listening in on him), "I want you to stay there for the time being. Learn as much about them as you are able. Get them to trust you. However, I want you to remember that _we_ are the only family you need. If you are worried, or scared, or sad, or hurting, remember to rely on us rather than those Circus freaks." His eyes softened as he envisioned Yuki's brilliant smile, "Don't forget how to laugh, my little snowflake. Stay safe and good luck."

Uro sent the bird off with a flick of his wrist. As it flew out into the gloomy sky, the Varuga master picked up a small picture frame. He lightly stroked one of the faces in it. When he set it back down, a tiny beam of sunlight ran a warm tendril over the faces of those inside the photo. It showed a much younger Yuki sitting on Uro's lap, while Kagiri and Kiharu flanked both of them. The two boys were each holding one of their new little sister's hands and Yuki was beaming like the happiest girl in the world.

 **Well, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and I hope to be able to post a new one soon!**

 **Later! XD**


	10. Chapter 10

**I can't believe how long it's taken for me to get back to this! DX**

 **I'm sooooo sorry!**

 **Thanks to those who kept waiting and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Chapter 10: Peck on the Cheek**

* * *

As the three were flying to the First Ship, Uro's messenger bird flew up next to Yuki. The cat-girl paled and tried to shoo it off without alerting Tsukitachi. Thankfully, the bird understood and flew down to the forest where it waited till Yuki called.

Yuki sighed quietly with relief. _That was waaay to close for comfort,_ she thought tiredly, _I hope no one noticed…_

Unfortunately, Tsukitachi did notice. He didn't say anything, but he was definitely planning on tattling to Hirato at a later date. After he had his own fun, of course.

When they finally arrived at the Ship, Kiichi greeted them with a shrill, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, TSUKI-CHAN?!"

The red-head set Nai down (Yuki had flown herself), and shook his head to get rid of the residual echo. Afterward, he grinned happily at Kiichi and said, "I went to visit Hirato and meet his most recent guest. Kiichi-chan, this is Yuki. Yuki-chan, this is Kiichi. Yuu-cha-"

"Do not call me that. Only my master gets to call me that." Yuki glared at the red-head in disgust, "Never even try to call me that again. Is that clear?"

Tsukitachi gulped and nodded with a slightly frightened smile, "O-okay…um…Yuki-chan, I'll introduce you to Jiki as soon as he shows u-"

"Tsukitachi-saaaan! Is that you?" The boy in mention came round a corner holding a book and a cup of steaming tea, "I'm guessing you were visiting Hirato-san, yes?"

"Ah! Jiki-kun! There you are. Yes, I was with Hirato. Would you like to meet his new guest?"

"Sure."

"All right then, Yuki-chan, this is Jiki. Jiki-kun this is Yuki." Tsukitachi gestured to each of them in turn and, afterward, stood there grinning cheerfully at them.

Yuki smiled sweetly at Jiki and said, "Hello there, Jiki-san. It's nice to meet yo-"

Jiki took four steps toward her and dumped his cup of tea over her head, "Nice to meet you too. Oh, and just so you know, I hate cats. So if you actually want me to even think about respecting you, I'd recommend taking off the ears and tail. I have to say they look ridiculous." The boy tilted his head to the side and waited for Yuki to respond.

At first she didn't do, or say, anything. It took her…hm…let's see…I think it took about seventeen seconds for her to get over the shock of having a cup of _tea_ dumped on top of her head. When she did snap out of it, Tsukitachi, Nai, and Kiichi could all tangibly feel the air temperature around her drop to sub-zero levels. They all took two steps away from her and watched as the inevitable confrontation played out.

Yuki slowly tilted her head to the side and looked at Jiki with a frigid cold gaze. "I am incapable of 'taking them off,' as you said," she shot out a hand and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer (she also snagged his cup), "As for the whole 'respect' thing, I'd _recommend_ you show me an adequate amount, even with my ears and tail. You'll be sorry if you don't, Jiki-san." With that, she crashed the cup over his head and shoved him back. She angrily shook the liquid out of her hair and fur and crossed her arms, going into sassy-stubborn-ticked-off-mode. Not even Uro could stand up against this side of her personality.

Jiki fell on his backside and put a hand to his bleeding head, "You hit me…"

"Yup. And you poured hot tea on my ears and hair. Call it payback, jerk."

"Don't expect me to respect you. Cause I won't. I promise you that."

Yuki kneeled down and crept toward him carefully, "Wanna bet?"

Jiki paled slightly before looking away, his face (for some reason) sporting a very slight blush. He shook his head 'no' and whispered softly, "I give. I do have one condition, though…"

The cat-girl raised an eyebrow and said, "And that condition is…?"

"You have to let me touch the ears and the tail." He glanced up at her, curiosity laced with mischief in his eyes.

Yuki frowned and blinked at him, "What?"

"I want to touch your ears and tail."

"Why?"

"I've never pet a human with cat features before. It'll be a new experience." Jiki grinned and stood up.

The cat-girl also stood but backed away a bit when he reached his hand out, "I never said you could, buster. I don't intend to let someone who just poured hot tea on me touch me at all. At least not anytime soon. Having said that, back off." She hissed at him and allowed her eyes to flash dangerously.

Jiki either ignored the warning signs, or simply didn't notice them. He again reached out his hand only to yelp loudly when Yuki scratched and bit him with a low growl. Nai and Tsukitachi tried to bite back their laughter and Kiichi simply cackled happily, "You were asking for that Jiki! Yuki-chan," she skipped over to the furious girl and gently hugged her, "That was a perfect response. If Jiki-kun ever bothers you again, come tell me before you take care of him. I would sooo love to see that!" The blue-haired girl laughed happily and squeezed her new friend.

Nai, seeing that things seemed to be going relatively well, giggled happily and thought, _I'm so glad Yuki-chan is getting along with Jiki and Kiichi. I was worried!_ He sighed and clasped his hand behind his back. _Thank goodness._

Ω

Two hours later, Yuki was stuck underneath a monumental pile of clothes and couldn't do anything as Kiichi continued to throw things at/on her.

"Oooo! This would look cute on you too! And this! Oo and this! Oh, oh, oh! You soooo have to try this on, Yuki-chan!" Kiichi pulled the frazzled cat-girl to her feet (knocking all the clothes to the floor) and shoved her into her bathroom with an outfit, including accessories.

Yuki came out wearing a white knee length sundress, tall brown lace up boots, a couple of bangles on one arm, a white headband, ruby-red earrings, and a thin silver chain with a pendant the same ruby-red as her earrings. She looked a little uncomfortable, but absolutely adorable. Her tail and ears simply added to the effect. Kiichi first gasped, then she squealed, and, to top it all off, she screamed, "YOU ARE SOOOOOOO CUUUUUUTE! KYAAAAA!"

Yuki winced at the shrillness of her voice and said, "Thank you, Kiichi. I have to say," she stepped in front of a large mirror and scanned her new look, "I've never worn clothes like this. My usual attire consists of black tank-tops and black, or very dark blue, skinny jeans." She spun around and giggled as the skirt gently floated back to its original place.

Kiichi sighed happily and murmured, "No thanks necessary, sweetie! You must show this to Nai!"

"H-huh?!" Yuki blushed in embarrassment.

Kiichi glanced up at her from her own position on the bed. She noticed her friend's reddening face and her mouth curled into a slightly cruel smirk, "That's right, my dear," she stood and sidled up to the cat-girl, "You like him don't you? Come on, dearie, you can tell me."

Yuki blushed brighter and stuttered, "Wh-wh-what a-a-are you talking a-a-about?"

"Oh, come now! It's sooo obvious. I can even tell that he likes you too."

"Eh?" Yuki turned and looked at the blue-haired girl, "What do you mean?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? He. Likes. You. Too. Understand me?" Kiichi skipped over to the door, flung it wide open, called loudly for Nai and, when he appeared, motioned him over, "Come here for a minute, Nai. I want to show you something."

Nai obediently walked to her and asked, "What's wrong, Kiichi?"

"Wait!" She stopped him right before he saw Yuki and continued, "Close your eyes and I'll lead you."

"Okay." He did as he was told and Kiichi led him right in front of the decked out cat-girl. She was blushing madly and wildly waving her hands, trying to make Kiichi stop. Unfortunately, Kiichi paid her no heed. She simply told Nai to stand still and continue to keep his eyes closed until she told him to open them. After doing that, she came around behind Yuki and kept her from running away.

"Okay, Nai. You can open your eyes now."

Nai blinked his eyes open and, immediately, his jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. He was stunned speechless. Yuki wasn't doing much either. She was frozen solid in utter terror. Never in her life had she wanted someone to tell her she looked nice. Right in this moment, it was all she could think about.

The niji-boy finally regained his speech and said, quietly, "You look amazing, Yuki." He clammed up after that and blushed almost brighter than the cat-girl.

The girl in question stared at him, "Really?"

"Uh huh. Really." He didn't look up at her, but she could tell he meant it.

She smiled happily and said, "Thanks, Nai," she walked over to him and gave him a soft peck on the cheek, "I'm glad you think so." They were both blushing adorably, and Kiichi could barely keep herself from squealing with delight. _I can't wait to see how these two turn out!_

* * *

 **Many thanks to Apple of Eris (your review got me back in the game!) and Salt_the_Catgirl (hope I continue to please!) for your reviews.**

 **Also, thanks to any and all who simply enjoy reading!**

 **See ya next time!**


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